Stanford Cardinal (0-0 • 0-0 Pac-12)
Northwestern Wildcats (0-0 • 0-0 Big Ten)
September 5, 2015 • 9 a.m. (PT)
Ryan Field (47,130) • Evanston, Ill.
Television • Live national broadcast on ESPN with Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst) and Dr. Jerry Punch (sideline).
Radio • Live coverage on Stanford's flagship station -- KNBR 1050 AM -- with Scott Reiss '93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak '00 (analyst) and John Platz '84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio -- KZSU 90.1 FM -- and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 84) and XM Satellite Radio (channel 84) will carry a national broadcast.
Polls • Stanford (21st - AP, 21st - USA Today) • Northwestern (NR - AP, NR - USA Today)
Live Stats • Live in-game statistics available at GoStanford.com
On the Web • GoStanford.com • NUsports.com • Pac-12.com • BigTen.org • #GoStanford
• Stanford opens its 121st season of action Saturday with a nonconference game at Northwestern.
• Winner of its last three games to close the 2014 campaign, including a 42-21 rout of Maryland in the Foster Farms Bowl, Stanford will christen its season on the road for the first time since 2009 (a 39-13 win at Washington State on Sept. 5).
• Stanford is 4-5-1 in its last 10 true road games to open a season. The Cardinal's last win on the road -- while ranked -- to open a season came Sept. 6, 1980, with a 35-25 victory over Oregon.
• No program in the nation has a higher graduation rate over the last four years than Stanford (99 pct.). Even more, no Pac-12 Conference team has had more draftees over the last four years than Stanford (19).
• More than 40 football student-athletes interned at 25-plus businesses around Silicon Valley during the summer months. Areas of internships included finance, technology, sports management, real estate, education and medicine.
• Stanford's entire full-time coaching staff from the 2014 season returns for the 2015 campaign. It's the first time since 1999-2000 under Tyrone Willingham that Stanford's staff remained completely intact from one season to the next.
• Stanford is ranked 21st in the AP Top 25 poll to start this 2015 campaign, a school-record fifth straight year for the Cardinal in the preseason poll. The Cardinal, unranked to end the 2014 season, is ranked 21st by USA Today.
• Coupled with its Foster Farms Bowl win over Maryland and the 2015 season opener at Northwestern, Stanford will face Big Ten Conference opponents in consecutive games for the first time since 1956 (vs. Michigan State, at Ohio State).
• Under David Shaw, Stanford has played four regular season nonconference games on the road -- all east of the Mississippi (at Duke, at Notre Dame [twice], at Army). In fact, as the crow flies, Stanford has traveled over 2,000 miles per game. By comparison, SEC teams have played only two games in the Pacific Time Zone during that span (Ole Miss at Fresno State in 2011, Tennessee at Oregon in 2013).
• Stanford and Texas are the only schools out of the 68 Power 5 and independent programs in 2015 who play 12 FBS opponents, 11 of which are Power 5 schools or Notre Dame. Five of Stanford's 12 regular-season opponents -- No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 USC, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 13 UCLA and No. 22 Arizona -- are ranked in the AP's preseason top 25.
• Stanford has compiled a 54-13 record since 2010. Its 54 wins are the seventh-most by any college program over that stretch.
• Stanford and Northwestern last met in 1994 at Dyche Stadium, which has since become Ryan Field. The teams combined to score 82 points on 155 offensive plays for 862 total yards in front of a national audience on ESPN. The game, in which Stanford head coach David Shaw played wide receiver, ended in a 41-41 tie. Stanford leads the all-time series, 3-1-2.
• Since Stanford's last game at Northwestern 21 years ago, the Cardinal has played contests in 14 different states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin) and won games in 11 of those.
