With no Andrew Luck or Kevin Hogan to command the offense, or a workhorse like Christian McCaffrey or Bryce Love to carry the team on the ground, Stanford football is beginning a new season without an identity for the first time in over a decade.
It’s a challenge even bigger than COVID-19 complications, or having star players opt-out of the season.
The Cardinal are coming off a 4-8 record in 2019, their worst since 2007 and the first time missing a bowl game since 2008. The program is looking to improve in the shortened season with a roster that features some familiar faces, albeit not the nationally recognizable ones from years past.
For starters, former Stanford quarterback KJ Costello transferred to Mississippi State for his last year of eligibility, where he’d play under former Washington State head coach Mike Leach. Costello was one of 16 players to transfer away from Stanford in the offseason. Senior Davis Mills, who played in eight games in 2019 filling in for an injured Costello, is the presumptive starter at quarterback.
In those eight games last season, Mills threw for 1,960 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions, showing he can provide the Cardinal with a viable option under center.
“I believe that right now in camp we are further ahead than we were last year,” Mills said in an interview with the Pac-12 Network. “This year…it’s been a pretty flawless transition installing new installs and getting through the start of our playbook.”
Alongside Mills, Stanford returns all four wide receivers from last year in Michael Wilson, Connor Wedington, Simi Fehoko and Osiris St. Brown. The quartet combined for 158 catches, 2,007 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2019, the bulk of the passing offense. Also, Wedington averaged 28.1 yards per punt return, which led the conference.
Similar to the Ducks, Stanford has had key players opt-out of the season. Standout offensive tackle Walker Little and star cornerback Paulson Adebo both opted out of the season and declared for the NFL draft. Perhaps Stanford’s best player on each side of the ball, their absence will test the depth of Shaw’s squad.
“The corner position for us, [with] Paulson deciding to go to the NFL, it really stinks for us,” Shaw said. “Looking at the way Kyu Blu Kelly finished his freshman year…I honestly thought we might have had the best cornerback duo in America.”
Kelly, as a freshman in 2019, added 28 solo tackles, one sack, one interception and five passes defended in addition to Adebo’s four interceptions and 10 passes defended, a mark that tied him for fourth in the Pac-12.
Joining Kelly in the secondary is cornerback Treyjohn Butler and safety Malik Antoine, a two-year captain who will once again lead Stanford’s defense. Last year, the Cardinal ranked in the middle of the conference in almost every defensive category, allowing 21.7 points and 367.9 yards per game.
The Ducks and Cardinal have traded road wins in their last two meetings. In 2018, Autzen Stadium was left in shock after the Ducks blew a 24-7 halftime lead in route to an improbable 38-31 Stanford overtime victory. Last season, Oregon took care of business at Stanford, winning 21-6.
Under Shaw’s tutelage, Stanford has been a perennial contender for the Pac-12 North. Even after a down year, it is impossible to count the Cardinal out of contention, and the primetime matchup on Nov. 7 between Stanford and Oregon will serve as a barometer for the conference’s strength.
After a long offseason, Pac-12 football finally returns to Eugene.
