The Opening Kickoff
- The 2025 season begins on Saturday afternoon as the Cardinal returns to the University of Hawai'i for the second time in three seasons. The game is televised on CBS and kicks off at 4:30 pm PT.
- Stanford enters 2025 with new leadership. Andrew Luck returns to The Farm as the program's first General Manager, and he brought in NFL veteran coach Frank Reich to serve as the team's interim head coach for the 2025 season. Reich coached Luck during the former Stanford great's final season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.
- 2024 saw the Cardinal finish 3-9, going 2-6 in conference action during its first season in the ACC. The two ACC wins featured game-winning field goals at Syracuse and at home against No. 22/19 Louisville.
- The Cardinal was much improved on the defensive side of the ball in 2024. Stanford forced 17 turnovers, an improvement of six from the prior season. Eight of those turnovers were fumbles, ranking 38th in the country. Stanford's rush defense was its best since 2014, limiting opponents to just 133.5 rushing yards per game, 41st in FBS.
- Stanford welcomes 17 transfers to the program in 2025, the most in a single season in program history and more than all other seasons combined. This comes after the Cardinal brought in just four transfers in advance of the 2024 season.
- The most recent time Stanford played in Week 0 came in 2017, when the Cardinal defeated Rice 62-7 in the Sydney College Football Cup.
- Despite opening with four of its first six games on the road, Stanford's schedule closes home-heavy. Three of the team's final four games take place at Stanford Stadium, with all three being played in November. Stanford has not had three home games in November since 2017.
- This is the second time in the last three years that Stanford has begun the season at Hawai'i. The 2023 season started with a 37-24 win over the Rainbow Warriors. Hawai'i is scheduled to make a pair of return trips to The Farm in 2026 and 2030.
- August 23 is the earliest date Stanford football has opened a season. The Cardinal's previous earliest date was Aug. 26 on multiple occasions, most recently in 2017.