Stanford heads into Halloween week sitting at 4-4, and the Cardinal will try to keep that even record intact when it travels to Louisville on Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 12:15 p.m. PT kickoff on ACC Network.
There’s at least some history on Stanford’s side with the calendar turning to Oct. 31. The Cardinal is 13-6 all-time on Halloween, and its last game on the date came in 2015, a 30-28 win over Washington State.
What makes this Stanford team noteworthy right now is the split between its wins and losses. In its four victories, the Cardinal has been piling up 34 points per game and 485.5 yards of offense. In its four defeats, those numbers drop sharply to 5.8 points and 233.8 yards.
The road has been the real obstacle. Stanford has dropped 14 straight away from home, the longest such streak in program history and the longest active road losing streak in FBS.
The Cardinal’s last road win came in its first ACC game, a 26-24 victory at Syracuse on Sept. 20, 2024.
A few recent performances have shown what this offense can look like when it clicks. Against NC State, Stanford had a 300-yard passer in Davis Warren, a 100-yard rusher in Micah Ford and a 100-yard receiver in Quincy High. The last time Stanford managed that combination in one game was 2015.
Ford has been especially dangerous. He ran for 150 yards against the Wolfpack and finished with 208 yards from scrimmage, marking his second straight game with at least 150 rushing yards and 200 yards from scrimmage.
The last Stanford back to do that in back-to-back games was Bryce Love in 2017. Ford also leads the nation in rushing yards over the last two weeks with 329.
He’s done more than just run the ball. Ford is one of four Power Four running backs with at least 650 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards this season, and after posting 50-plus receiving yards in consecutive games, he became the first Stanford running back to do that since Christian McCaffrey in 2015.
Warren has been steady, too. He enters Week 9 fifth in the ACC in passing yards and threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns in the first half against NC State, making him the first Cardinal quarterback to put up that kind of first-half line since K.J.
Costello in 2018. He is also one of 13 FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts and two or fewer interceptions.
And if Stanford is looking for another sign that its passing game is trending, Warren has already thrown for at least 300 yards in three games this season, the most in a single season by a Cardinal quarterback since Tanner McKee in 2022.
In Other News...
Stanford Suddenly Has A Bowl Race Worth Watching
Stanfords latest step forward came in a game that looked under control early and then turned into exactly the kind of test that has been missing from the Cardinals recent fall Saturdays. Davis Warren helped set the tone with a sharp opening quarter, and Stanford did just enough to hold off North Carolina State 31-28 in a win that felt meaningful well beyond one result on the schedule.
The bigger picture is what makes it matter in Palo Alto. The Cardinal are suddenly sitting at .500 through eight games, with consecutive victories giving the program a little momentum it has not had in a while, and a bowl race that no longer feels like a long shot. There is still work ahead, but after this one, Stanford has at least given its late-season stretch some real stakes. [Read more 🡒]