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Stanford Cardinal
Current season:
AmericanFootball current event 2024 Stanford Cardinal
Stanford plain block "S" logo NCAA-Pac 12-Stanford Cardinal White helmet-red facemask
First season 1892
Athletic director Bernard Muir
Head coach David Shaw
9th year, 86–34 (.717)
Home stadium Stanford Stadium
Field Foster Field
Year built 1921/1996
Stadium capacity 50,000
Stadium surface Grass
Location Stanford, California
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
All-time history
Stanford Cardinal Historical Teams
1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
All-time record 657–467–49 (.581)
Postseason bowl record 15–14–1 (.517)
Claimed national titles 2 (1926, 1940)[1]
Conference titles 15
Heisman winners 1
Consensus All-Americans Template:American college football All-Americans
Current uniform
NCAA-Pac 12-Stanford Cardinal jerseys
Colors Cardinal and White

             


Fight song "Come Join The Band" (official)
"All Right Now" (de facto)
Mascot Stanford Tree (unofficial)
Marching band Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band
Rivals California Golden Bears
USC Trojans
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Website GoStanford.com

The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. Stanford, the top-ranked academic institution with an FBS program,[2] has a highly successful football tradition. The team is known as the Cardinal, referring to the color, not the bird. The team was known as the Indians from 1930 to 1972 and the Cardinals (also referring to the color) from 1972 to 1981.

Stanford began playing football in 1892, and participated in the first ever Rose Bowl against Michigan in 1902. Its annual Big Game against California is the oldest and most storied rivalry in the Pac-12 and the western United States. The Cardinal also compete for the Legends Trophy against independent rival Notre Dame.

The program has an all-time record of 688–457–52 for a winning percentage of .594 and has winning series records against all of its Pac-12 North rivals, except for the Washington Huskies, against whom they are 38–41–4.[3] Led by legendary coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, who still has the most wins in Cardinal history, Stanford claimed a National Championship in 1926. The 1940 team went unbeaten and untied after defeating Nebraska 21–13 in the 1941 Rose Bowl, but the team was ranked #2 in the final AP poll, released before the game was played.

Pop Warner's era predated the AP poll, but Stanford has finished at least one season in the Top 10 in six different decades under eight different coaches, including Claude E. Thornhill in 1934, Clark Shaughnessy in 1940, Chuck Taylor in 1951, John Ralston in 1970 and 1971, Bill Walsh in 1992, Jim Harbaugh in 2010, and David Shaw in 2011 and 2012. Stanford's most recent season finish in the top 5 was in 2010 after the #5 Cardinal dismantled ACC Champion Virginia Tech 40–12 in the 2011 Orange Bowl to finish with a school record 12 wins and 1 loss. Stanford finished #4 in both the AP and Coaches polls.

Quarterback Jim Plunkett is the only Stanford player to win the Heisman Trophy, doing so in 1970. Stanford players have finished second in Heisman voting a total of six times: quarterback John Elway was second to Herschel Walker in 1982; running back Toby Gerhart was second to Mark Ingram in 2009; quarterback Andrew Luck was second in Heisman voting to both Cam Newton in 2010 and Robert Griffin III in 2011; and running back Christian McCaffery was second to Derrick Henry in 2015. The Cardinal have played in 24 bowl games in their history, including 15 appearances in bowls now comprising the Bowl Championship Series, specifically one each in the Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, and thirteen in the Rose Bowl.

Logos/Uniforms[]

Image gallery[]

Recent season records[]

Year Coach Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Buddy Teevens (2002–2004)
2002 Buddy Teevens 2-9 1-7 T-9th
2003 Buddy Teevens 4-7 2-6 T-8th
2004 Buddy Teevens 4-7 2-6 T-8th
Buddy Teevens: 10-23 5-19
Walt Harris (2005–2006)
2005 Walt Harris 5-6 4-4 T-4th
2006 Walt Harris 1-11 1-8 10th
Walt Harris: 6-17 5-13
Jim Harbaugh (2007–2010)
2007 Jim Harbaugh 4-8 3-6 T-7th
2008 Jim Harbaugh 5-7 4-5 T-6th
2009 Jim Harbaugh 8-5 6-3 T-2nd L Sun
2010 Jim Harbaugh 12-1 8-1 2nd (North) W Orange 4 4
Jim Harbaugh: 29-21 21-15
David Shaw (2011–present)
2011 David Shaw 11-2 8-1 T-1st (North) L Fiesta
2012 David Shaw 12-2 8-1 T-1st (North) W Rose
2013 David Shaw 11-3 7-2 T-1st (North) L Rose
2014 David Shaw 8-5 5-4 2nd (North) W Foster Farms
2015 David Shaw 12-2 8-1 1st (North) W Rose
2016 David Shaw 10-3 6-3 3rd (North) W Sun
2017 David Shaw 9-5 7-2 T-1st (North) L Alamo
2018 David Shaw 9-4 6-3 2nd (North) W Sun
2019 David Shaw 4-8 3-6 6th (North)
David Shaw: 86-34 56-22
Total: 152-97-0
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.

Bowl game appearances and results[]

File:StanfordUniversityFootballOffense2007.jpg

2007 offense lined up for a play

Year and bowl Winning team Losing team Result
1902 Rose Bowl Michigan 49 Stanford 0 Lost
1925 Rose Bowl Notre Dame 27 Stanford 10 Lost
1927 Rose Bowl Stanford 7 Alabama 7 Tied
1928 Rose Bowl Stanford 7 Pittsburgh 6 Won
1934 Rose Bowl Columbia 7 Stanford 0 Lost
1935 Rose Bowl Alabama 29 Stanford 13 Lost
1936 Rose Bowl Stanford 7 SMU 0 Won
1941 Rose Bowl Stanford 21 Nebraska 13 Won
1952 Rose Bowl Illinois 40 Stanford 7 Lost
1971 Rose Bowl Stanford 27 Ohio State 17 Won
1972 Rose Bowl Stanford 13 Michigan 12 Won
1977 Sun Bowl Stanford 24 LSU 14 Won
1978 Bluebonnet Bowl Stanford 25 Georgia 22 Won
1986 Gator Bowl Clemson 27 Stanford 21 Lost
1991 Aloha Bowl Georgia Tech 18 Stanford 17 Lost
1993 Blockbuster Bowl Stanford 24 Penn State 3 Won
1995 Liberty Bowl East Carolina 19 Stanford 13 Lost
1996 Sun Bowl Stanford 38 Michigan State 0 Won
2000 Rose Bowl Wisconsin 17 Stanford 9 Lost
2001 Seattle Bowl Georgia Tech 24 Stanford 14 Lost
2009 Sun Bowl Oklahoma 31 Stanford 27 Lost
2011 Orange Bowl Stanford 40 Virginia Tech 12 Won
2012 Fiesta Bowl Oklahoma State 41 Stanford 38 L (OT)
2013 Rose Bowl Stanford 20 Wisconsin 14 Won
2014 Rose Bowl Michigan State 24 Stanford 20 Lost
2014 Foster Farms Bowl Stanford 45 Maryland 21 Won
2016 Rose Bowl Stanford 45 Iowa 16 Won
Overall record 13–13–1

Coaches by number of victories[]

Coach Total
Games
Coached
Wins Losses Ties Win % Total
Seasons
Coached
# in
Chronological
Order
Glenn "Pop" Warner 96 71 17 8 .781 9 16
John Ralston 94 55 36 3 .585 9 22
David Shaw 68 54 14 0 .794 5 34
Tyrone Willingham 81 44 36 1 .549 7 30
Chuck Taylor 71 40 29 2 .577 7 20
Claude E. Thornhill 67 35 25 7 .575 7 17
Bill Walsh 59 34 24 1 .585 5 24/29
Jack Christiansen 55 30 22 3 .573 5 23
Jim Harbaugh 50 29 21 0 .580 4 33
Marchmont Schwartz 60 28 28 4 .500 6 19
Jack Elway 56 25 29 2 .464 5 27
James F. Lanagan 29 23 2 4 .862 3 11
Dennis Green 34 16 18 0 .471 3 28
Paul Wiggin 44 16 28 0 .364 4 26
Clark Shaughnessy 19 16 3 0 .742 2 18
Jack Curtice 50 14 36 0 .280 5 21
Andrew Kerr 18 11 7 0 .611 2 15
Walter Camp 17 11 3 3 .735 1 1/3
Buddy Teevens 33 10 23 0 .303 3 31
C. D. "Pop" Bliss 9 8 0 1 .944 1 2
Fielding H. Yost 10 7 2 1 .750 1 8
Harry P. Cross 14 7 4 2 .615 2 4/6
Walt Harris 23 6 17 0 .261 2 32
Carl L. Clemans 7 6 1 0 .857 1 10
Rod Dowhower 11 5 5 1 .500 1 25
Eugene Van Gent 8 4 2 2 .625 1 14
Walter D. Powell 7 4 3 0 .571 1 13
Bob Evans 7 4 3 0 .571 1 12
George H. Brooke 5 4 1 0 .800 1 5
Charles Fickert 7 3 2 2 .571 1 9
Burr Chamberlain 9 2 5 2 .333 1 7

Individual award winners[]

File:Stanford at UCLA 2010.jpg

Stanford Cardinal playing the UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl

Jim Plunkett – 1970
Jim Plunkett – 1970
  • Chic Harley Award
Jim Plunkett – 1970
Troy Walters – 1999
  • Sammy Baugh Trophy
Dick Norman – 1959
Guy Benjamin – 1977
Steve Dils – 1978
John Elway – 1982
  • Walter Camp Award
Jim Plunkett – 1970
Toby Gerhart – 2009
  • Paul Hornung Award
Owen Marecic – 2010

College Football Hall of Fame[]

The following Stanford players and coaches are members of the College Football Hall of Fame:[4]

Pro Football Hall of Famers[]

The following Stanford players are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame:[5]


Stanford's All-Century Team[]

chosen by the Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, CA, November 18, 1999

Coach
Glenn "Pop" Warner (1924–32)

Offense
QB: Jim Plunkett (1968–70)
RB: Darrin Nelson (1977–81)
RB: Ernie Nevers (1923–25)
TE: Bill McColl (1949–51)
OL: Bob Whitfield (1989–91)
OL: George Buehler (1966–68)
OL: Vic Lindskog (1940–41)
OL: Chuck Taylor (1940–42)
OL: Bob Reynolds (1933–35)
WR: Troy Walters (1996–1999)
WR: Ken Margerum (1977–80)
PK: John Hopkins (1987–90)
UTL:Glyn Milburn (1990–92)

Defense
DL: Pat Donovan (1972–74)
DL: Pete Lazetich (1969–71)
DL: Paul Wiggin (1954–56)
DL: Kailee Wong (1994–97)
LB: Gordy Ceresino (1975–78)
LB: Dave Wyman (1982–84, '86)
LB: Jeff Siemon (1969–71)
DB: Toi Cook (1984–86)
DB: Randy Poltl (1971–73)
DB: Benny Barnes (1970–71)
DB: John Lynch (1990–92)
P: Frank Albert (1939–41)

Record vs. conferences[]

Current as of 10/19/2015.

Division I FBS conference record[]

Conference Win Loss Tie Win %
ACC 9 10 0 47.37%
American 10 4 1 71.43%
Big 12 5 9 0 35.71%
Big Ten 23 30 5 43.40%
C-USA 1 3 0 25.00%
Independents 19 25 0 43.18%
MWC 81 19 3 81.00%
Pac 12 347 311 26 52.74%
SEC 1 1 0 50.00%
Sun Belt 6 1 0 85.71%
Totals 502 413 35 54.86%

Current NFL players[]

The following Stanford players are currently playing in the NFL:[6]

References[]

  1. [1]
  2. In virtually all rankings of U.S. universities, Stanford is rated in the top six with Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, MIT, and Caltech. None of these field an FBS team.
  3. According to College Football Data Warehouse, the all-time series records against the rest of the Pac-12 North are: California, 53–43–10; Oregon, 45–30–1; Oregon State 51–25–3; and Washington State 37–25–1.
  4. Hall of Famers. College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
  5. Colleges: Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-05-12. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
  6. NFL Colleges: S. ESPN.com. Retrieved on December 26, 2013.

External links[]

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