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Stanford Shows Promise, Despite Blowout Loss to No. 7 Miami
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- Stanford Shows Promise, Despite Blowout Loss to No. 7 Miami
Stanford Shows Promise, Despite Blowout Loss to No. 7 Miami
(Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)
To begin the game, Stanford received the ball and in their first two plays from scrimmage quarterbacks Davis Warren completed a pair of passes to set up a nice third-and-two opportunity. The third play should have resulted in a first down and positive momentum for the Cardinal, but JonAnthony Hall received a face full of sunshine as he turned to make the catch, resulting in a drive-stopping drop.
After the punt, new Miami quarterback Darian Mensah connected with Malachi Toney for 48 yards on the first Hurricanes play from scrimmage. Three plays later they connected for a 23-yard score, quickly putting Miami up 7-0.
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The duo would continue to wear down the Stanford defense, connecting 11 times for 229 yards and three touchdowns for Toney. Mensah found other receivers too, finishing 27-30 for 412 yards and five touchdowns. Both players have loudly announced their Heisman candidacy with their performances in Week 1.
Miami would take out most of their starters midway through the third quarter and both teams would slow down a bit. The downside for Stanford is that they didn't have an answer for Miami's frontline guys. The silver lining is that not too many programs have players like Mensah and Toney to worry about.
The key is going to have to be cleaning up the dropped passes and ensuring fewer penalties. A few times in this game Warren found his man for a first down, only for it to be called back due to a holding call. That goes back to how Stanford stacks up on the offensive line against a team like Miami.
Stanford finished with nine penalties for 70 yards, and all of those seemed to be backbreaking calls.
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Stanford Shows Promise
Winning this game was always going to be a longshot. Would it have been nice for the final score to be a little more competitive? Of course. At the same time, Stanford still showed improvement from last season.
In 2025, the Cardinal threw for 89 yards, completing 12-of-26 attempts. They ran the ball 25 times for 75 yards (3.0 yards per carry).
On Friday night, Stanford rushed 22 times for 73 yards (3.31 yards per carry) and went 22-42 for 221 yards through the air. They moved the ball a lot more than last season, despite finishing with a worse deficit at the final whistle.
Warren was finding his targets and putting it on the money in the first half, showing that even against highly-ranked teams, this Stanford group can move the ball through the air. With the offensive line down three starters due to injury, blocking for Warren was a tall task against the Miami front.
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That's why head coach Tavita Pritchard was giving different looks up front and relying on quick throws from Warren to keep him standing upright. The Cardinal didn't run the ball much in the first half, handing it off nine times for 35 yards. One carry from Sedrick Irvin accounted for 27 of those yards.
Caden High also collected six catches for 92 yards in his season debut, while Benji Blackburn continued to be a security blanket for his QB, hauling in seven catches for 52 yards.
The Cardinal were able to move the ball on offense consistently in that first half with different looks, despite the drops and penalties. Those are things that the roster can clean up before the Duke game on September 19.
Stanford showed a little of what they can do on Friday when they're not firing on all cylinders. How that offense looks against a team like Duke instead should reveal what kind of season the Cardinal will end up having.
