Stanford is searching for a jolt on offense, and the timing could hardly be more urgent.
After getting outscored 80-13 across its last two games, the Cardinal will try to reset Saturday night when it hosts Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Stanford has taken the lumps in a pair of ugly defeats - 45-6 at home against Miami on Sept. 4 and 35-7 at Duke last Saturday - and coach Tavita Pritchard made it clear where the concern starts.
"We've got to score," Pritchard said on Tuesday. "You can't go into an opponent's territory and score seven points and think you're going to walk away with a win."
Stanford is 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, and the numbers on offense have been shaky even beyond the scoreboard. Davis Warren has thrown for 675 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in 107 attempts, and another clean game through the air would put Stanford in position to do something it has not done since 2020: go through the first four games of a season without a pick.
"You want to take chances and give your guys opportunities but you also have to take care of the football," Warren said.
The Cardinal may also have a clear path to production on the ground. Micah Ford has run for 202 yards and three touchdowns, and he could be in line for plenty of work against a Georgia Tech defense that has struggled badly against the run. The Yellow Jackets are allowing 223.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 132nd nationally.
Georgia Tech has already been gashed on the ground in each of its first three games. Colorado ran for 183 yards against the Yellow Jackets, Tennessee piled up 299, and Mercer added 188 more in last weekend’s 44-11 loss.
"We got to continue to improve that and do some things to help us out there," Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. "I don't need to beat a dead horse because that horse is dead and in the ground and about 12 feet under right now as far as being able to stop the run. OK, we all know that.
"Teams are averaging over 5 yards of carry on us. I mean, they have not needed to throw the ball at all."
There was at least some offensive life for Georgia Tech against Mercer. Alberto Mendoza delivered career highs with 249 passing yards and three touchdown passes, while Justice Haynes ran for 141 yards and two scores and also caught a touchdown. Haynes now has 286 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Still, Key said the bigger issue is getting the entire operation to settle into place.
"It's a matter of everything coming together, finding out really what the identity is," Key said. "We've still got to be able to hang our hat on something as an identity. I'm not there yet at all."
Georgia Tech is 2-0 all-time against Stanford, with those wins coming in the 1991 Aloha Bowl and the 2001 Seattle Bowl.
In Other News...
Georgia Tech Heads Into ACC Opener With A Problem It Can't Ignore
Georgia Techs first ACC test of the season arrives with more than the usual league-opener urgency. The Yellow Jackets released their injury report ahead of the Stanford game, and it includes several notable absences, headlined by defensive end Jordan Walker, safety Savion Riley and left tackle Ethan Mackenny. It is the kind of availability sheet that immediately changes the conversation around a matchup, especially with conference play beginning and roster depth about to matter in a hurry.
The good news for Georgia Tech is that the next-man-up plan is already coming into focus, with a mix of freshmen and backups expected to shoulder more of the load. There are also several players listed as questionable or probable, which leaves the picture a little clearer than it might have been, but still not fully settled. For a team trying to make an early statement in the ACC, the challenge is not just getting through Saturday, but doing it without letting the missing pieces define the night. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Still Has One Problem To Solve Before ACC Play
Georgia Tech heads into its meeting with Stanford with a chance to pull its season back to .500, but the larger task is still finding a version of itself that can hold up once ACC play begins. Between the coaching changes and the constant shuffle in available personnel, the Yellow Jackets have spent much of the year trying to settle on an identity, and it has shown up most clearly in two places: a run defense that has been vulnerable and an offense that has not always found the same level of rhythm from one week to the next.
There are signs of progress. A few players have carved out roles in the passing game, giving the offense more structure than it had early on, but the depth behind them remains a concern and the defensive lapses have not disappeared. Against Stanford, Georgia Tech has another chance to show that it can stack a complete performance, but the bigger question is whether it has solved enough of its problems to survive the grind that starts now. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Has Several Bulldogs Ready To Break Out Against Oklahoma
Georgias latest matchup with Oklahoma has put a spotlight on a handful of Bulldogs who could shape the tone of the game before it really settles in. The starting center is a key piece up front, while a sophomore defensive lineman and a sophomore wide receiver both arrive with momentum and the kind of upside that can tilt a big stage if they hold up in a tougher test. Add in a linebacker who has been positioned as another potential difference-maker, and the Bulldogs have several players whose recent play suggests they may be asked to do more than simply fill a role.
Oklahomas challenge should make those assignments even more interesting, because the Sooners bring enough pressure to force Georgias best young contributors into real snaps and real decisions. If the Bulldogs are going to manage the matchup the way they want, it may come down to whether those emerging pieces can match their recent promise with production when the game starts demanding it. [Read more 🡒]