The Opening Kickoff
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- Stanford football begins its 132nd season on Saturday, Aug. 29 against Hawai'i. The home opener kicks off at 4 p.m. PT and is televised on ACC Network.
• The Cardinal opens the Tavita Pritchard era with a Pacific Islander heritage celebration, featuring a unique stripe on Stanford's white helmet, along with red facemasks, a first for the Cardinal since 2017.
• Stanford was strong inside Stanford Stadium in 2025, going 4-2 in home games, the program's best record at home since 2018. Stanford also won more games overall than in the previous season, for the first time since 2015.
• Davis Warren was named Stanford's starting quarterback during the final week of training camp. The Manhattan Beach, Calif., native is in his final season of college football and returns to his home state after transferring from Michigan. Following theWolverines' 2023 National Championship, Warren won the starting quarterback job in 2024 and started nine games, throwing for 1,199 yards with seven touchdowns. He missed all of 2025 with a torn ACL.
• One of the best linebackers in the nation returns to Stanford. Matt Rose finished his first season as one of Stanford's starting inside linebackers by recording 106 total tackles, the most by a Cardinal since Blake Martinez in 2015. He ranked second in the ACC in tackles and was top-25 in the country at the end of the regular season. He was named to the Butkus, Bronco Nagurski, and Chuck Bednarik Award preseason watch lists.
• Micah Ford will lead the Cardinal's ground attack this season. The junior from New Jersey finished 2025 with 643 rushing yards in nine games with four rushing touchdowns. His 643 rushing yards were the most in a season by a Stanford running back since 2019. He was also the first Cardinal since Bryce Love in 2017 with multiple games of 150 rushing yards or more.
• Heading into 2026, Stanford added just six from the transfer portal during its most recent cycle. While that number seems low, Stanford did not lose much in the transfer portal, either. Only five players who played at least 150 snaps a season ago left via the transfer portal, a number that ranks in the top-20 among other FBS programs. Duke (3) and Clemson (4) are the only ACC programs to lose fewer in the portal.
- Stanford football begins its 132nd season on Saturday, Aug. 29 against Hawai'i. The home opener kicks off at 4 p.m. PT and is televised on ACC Network.