Stanford gets a rare nonconference reset Saturday, and the opponent is one the Cardinal have never seen before. Elon comes to Stanford Stadium for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff, with Stanford looking to stop a brutal slide after back-to-back blowouts and the Phoenix arriving with a ground game built around one of the FCS’s most productive freshmen.
The matchup is the first meeting between the programs, and Stanford is listed as a five-touchdown favorite at home. The Cardinal are 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, while Elon is 4-3 and 2-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Stanford has won seven of its last 10 games at home.
For Stanford, the attention starts with how quickly it can move past what happened the last two weeks. The Cardinal were beaten 57-3 at Wake Forest and then 58-7 at Notre Dame, a stretch that qualifies as perhaps the worst back-to-back showing in program history. That makes this an obvious chance to steady things against an FCS opponent, even if Stanford has already learned the hard way not to assume those games will take care of themselves - it lost to then-FCS Sacramento State in 2023.
Elon, meanwhile, brings a very different profile and a very different kind of challenge. The Phoenix have never played a game west of Texas, and this trip to California becomes a notable first. Their previous westernmost game came in Abilene, Texas, when Elon faced Abilene Christian in 1973.
On the field, Elon’s offense flows through freshman Kamerin McDowell-Moore, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in three straight games and four times this season. He leads the FCS with 916 rushing yards, averaging 6.7 yards per carry and 130.9 yards per game.
There are other statistical angles worth watching too. Stanford has three passing plays of at least 60 yards, the second-most in the ACC.
Elon Preseason All-American Brodie Carroll has piled up double-digit tackles in five consecutive games. And Stanford fifth-year safety Jay Green ranks second among ACC safeties with 38 tackles.
Last season, Elon did visit an ACC team and hung around longer than the final score suggested, losing 45-17 at Duke after trailing by only seven entering the fourth quarter. Saturday’s trip to Stanford will test whether the Phoenix can again make life uncomfortable for a power-conference opponent far from home.