Television
Live national broadcast on FS1 with Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Shannon Spake (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 (8th - AP, 7th - USA Today) • Kansas State (NR - AP, NR - USA Today)
On the Web
GoStanford.com •
KStateSports.com •
Pac-12.com •
Big12Sports.com •
#GoStanford
Notes
- Stanford opens its 122nd season of football Friday with a nonconference game against Kansas State. It is the first meeting between the programs. Stanford is 5-9 all-time against Big 12 opponents, having last faced Oklahoma State (L, 38-41 • OT) in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2011 season.
- Stanford is ranked eighth in the AP Top 25 poll to start this 2015 campaign, only the fifth top-10 preseason appearance ever by the Cardinal. Three of those five preseason rankings have come in head coach David Shaw's tenure (2016, 2013, 2011, 1970 and 1950). The Cardinal is ranked seventh by USA Today.
- For the first time in the 56-year history of the conference preseason poll, Stanford was chosen the favorite to win the Pac-12 Conference football title. The media poll has correctly selected the conference champion in 29 of 55 previous polls, but only twice in the last nine polls. The Cardinal was not picked to win as much as the Pac-12 North Division in any of its three recent championship seasons (2012, 2013, 2015).
- Since 2010, Stanford is 47-6 in games played in California (9-1 in 2015, 7-2 in 2014, 7-2 in 2013, 10-0 in 2012, 7-1 in 2011, 7-0 in 2010). Two of those losses came at the hands of USC (2013, 2014).
- Stanford has won at least 11 games four times in five seasons under head coach David Shaw. From 1891-2010, the program recorded four 10-win seasons.
- The Cardinal is 46-6 (.885) at Stanford Stadium since 2008.
- Stanford is 15-0 in its past 15 home games against non-conference opponents. The last such loss came against Notre Dame in 2007. The Cardinal is 10-0 in non-conference home games under head coach David Shaw (with a 24.2-point average margin of victory in such affairs).
- Under head coach David Shaw, Stanford is 30-4 at Stanford Stadium, 0-1 vs. Big 12 opponents, 14-3 in September, 41-13 coming off a win, 6-0 on Friday, 34-5 vs. unranked opponents, 4-1 in season openers and 4-0 on FS1.
- The Cardinal returns 48 letterwinners (20 offense, 24 defense, four specialists) and 14 starters (five offense, six defense, three specialists) from last season's Pac-12 championship team that finished 12-2 and won the Rose Bowl Game against Iowa. Only 24.5 percent of this year's Stanford roster is composed of fourth- and fifth-year seniors. Underclassmen make up 75.5 percent of the 2016 roster.
- Stanford's ongoing streak of seven consecutive winning seasons is the longest in program history since an 11-season streak from 1968-78 under John Ralston, Jack Christiansen and Bill Walsh. The program's longest streak (not including the rugby years) is 13, from 1923-35 under coaches Andrew Kerr, Pop Warner, and Tiny Thornhill.
- Stanford's 2016 roster includes student-athletes from 29 states, Canada and Austria.
- Stanford requires students to declare a major before their junior year. Among the team's upperclassmen, 15 majors are represented. Eight Cardinal are engineering majors. Majors among Cardinal student-athletes include: architectural design, biomechanical engineering, civil engineering, communication, computer science, Earth systems, economics, human biology, Japanese, management science and engineering, philosophy, psychology, public policy, science, technology and society, and urban studies.
- Situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford's student-athletes are afforded the opportunity to experience the latest in cutting-edge technology, as the origins of some of the greatest hi-tech breakthroughs and most dynamic companies can trace their roots back to The Farm.
- STRIVR Labs co-founder and former Cardinal kicker Derek Belch has created a truly immersive, fully customizable virtual reality experience specifically for football teams. The platform has already changed the way Stanford's student-athletes prepare, and high school, college, and NFL teams are close behind.
- With the help of the Cardinal football team, a group of Stanford doctors and neuroscientists have been working to quantify the head trauma that players sustain during a game. The researchers developed custom mouth guards equipped with accelerometers and gyrometers that measure linear and rotational acceleration -- essentially, how violently the head gets whipped around during a game. The data from the sensors, which the scientists pull from the mouth guards after games and practices throughout the season, provides critical baseline data of how many jarring hits players typically experience.
- Temperature-regulation research of Stanford biologists H. Craig Heller and Dennis Grahn led to a device that rapidly cools body temperature and greatly improves exercise recovery. This is the sort of claim you see in spam email subject lines, not in discussions of mammalian thermoregulation. By taking advantage of specialized heat-transfer veins in the palms of hands, "the glove" can rapidly cool athletes' core temperatures -- and dramatically improve exercise recovery and performance.
- The program partnered with APTUS Sports to maximize athletic and academic development. Prior to the season, each player completed 10 game-like exercises in 30 minutes on a special tablet that assessed how quickly and accurately they learn, react and adjust. APTUS analyzed individual, group and team data, and reported the findings to the coaching staff.
- In 2012, Stanford became the first college program to use iPad playbooks, saving countless trees, dollars and man-hours.
Poised for Greatness
When Thomas went out for youth football, he towered over his friends. Some were intimidated by his size and afraid they would get hurt. So Thomas improvised.
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Notebook: Kansas State
Robert Mitchell will be attending his final game on the Stanford sideline. Few outside the football program know Mitchell, but many would recognize him. Mitchell has been a fixture around the football corridors since 2002 as a volunteer, helping out wherever he can, by passing out water bottles during practice or moving equipment.
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Snapshot: Offensive Line
Bloomgren previews offensive line.
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Burns Named Starting Quarterback
Senior Ryan Burns will be Stanford's starting quarterback in the season-opening contest against Kansas State.
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Snapshot: Outside Linebackers
Anderson previews outside linebackers.
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Snapshot: Defensive Backs
Akina previews defensive backs.
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Snapshot: Running Backs
Taylor previews offensive backfield.
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What's New
Personnel isn't the only change for the Stanford football team as it prepares to host Kansas State in its season opener on Sept. 2.
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Snapshot: Special Teams
Alamar previews special teams.
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Snapshot: Inside Linebackers
Hansen previews inside linebackers.
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Eighth In AP Preseason Poll
The Associated Press preseason poll ranked Stanford eighth, the highest of any Pac-12 Conference program.
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Snapshot: Tight Ends
Turner previews tight ends.
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