It’s absolutely insane to say considering it feels like we just started, but we’re about to hit the midway point of this 2026 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football regular season.
Our 3rd-ranked, 5-0 Irish have taken down a who’s who of current college football juggernauts with Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State, Purdue, and North Carolina (combined record of 11-13) all failing to come within single digits of Marcus Freeman’s squad. Now, ND will play host to their ONLY annual opponent hailing from the west coast, the Stanford Cardinal. The Cardinal are in their first season under a new coach after an abrupt end to a previous new coach’s tenure, and are shockingly far-removed from the Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw years when they were consistently competing for conference titles and NY6 Bowl bids.
At 2-3 on the season, the Cardinal had a nice win to open the year at Hawaii and then have proceeded to only defeat a very disappointing Georgia Tech team, otherwise getting annihilated in their 3 losses. With the Irish nursing some injuries and likely looking ahead to a top-10 road matchup with BYU (and even further ahead to the biggest regular season game in a LONG time when Miami comes to town in early November), does Stanford have a chance to put a scare into Irish fans, or at least make it a not-fun time for the only home October game of the season?
To shed some light on all of that, I of course reached out to best friends of the program, the folks over at Channel Tree Sports. These guys have been my go-to for Stanford insights for half a decade now, and they CERTAINLY know how to take some of our more off-the-wall questions and run straight through said wall with their answers, providing some really great stuff to read on a Friday when none of us have any interest in doing our day jobs. David Ta and Sam Weyen (Stanford Tree #39, i.e. a major celebrity) fielded questions about the Tavita Pritchard hire, how Davis Warren has been a “godsend,” how not-so-solid the Cardinal linemen and defense are these days, their favorite very-solid Cardinal linemen of years past, and much more.
This is gonna be a great read, folks, so let’s buckle up and get into it — happy Friday to us!
1. How are the vibes for Stanford fans after 5 games of the Tavita Pritchard era? Did you guys generally like the hire, or were you hoping for someone different? The losses have been tough this year (outscored 137-16 in those 3 games), but is that more so just the growing pains of rebuilding under a new coach, or do you think it’s an early indicator Stanford won’t be able to compete in the ACC under their young coach (or maybe at all in this new era of college football)?
David Ta, Channel Tree Sports: The fanbase is divided over Tavita Pritchard. One side really loves having a legendary player who bleeds Cardinal red. The other side feels like he’s an unimaginative buddy hire. Tavita gets Stanford and its idiosyncrasies but is that what we need in the realignment era? Some fans want a splash hire—someone who challenges Stanford orthodoxy. One of the biggest reasons Harbaugh succeeded was because in many ways he was so different from Stanford.
The Hawai’i game was a strong start to the season, but the blowouts to Duke and Wake Forest have started to sour the fanbase. Some fans are even calling for his head. It’s one thing to lose badly. It’s another thing to see players completely give up. I think lack of effort shows the other big problem besides NIL—a serious culture issue. Most players don’t hate losing enough. We have too many “steak eaters”—guys who just want to be at Stanford University and aren’t football first.
The hard question is how much of this is on Tavita. There seems to be something right and something wrong about every decision he makes. He found some gems in the transfer portal to reload our roster. But he was a coach under the person whose roster management led to these issues. He’s gotten an experienced staff, but our team won’t fight hard to the very end. I think the verdict is still out on Tavita, but realignment looms large.
2. How’s Michigan transfer Davis Warren looked under center for the Cardinal? What does he do well, and what weaknesses or limitations does he have that Notre Dame may be able to exploit on Saturday? Does he have any really good receivers to sling the rock to this year?
David Ta, Channel Tree Sports: Davis Warren has been a godsend and the biggest reason why this team is occasionally watchable. He looks like a real NFL quarterback. He’s the best quarterback we’ve had since Davis Mills in 2020 (now the backup to CJ Stroud on the Texans). He’s great at reading through his progressions and can make wow throws. We really love sending speedy freshman Zion Robinson streaking down the field for a bomb. Works pretty well. We also love play action on first down. Oddly enough, it’s worked despite Stanford not really having a run game. Opponents respect our run game for some reason. Don’t forward this article to Coach Freeman.
Still, Warren has had accuracy issues—especially under pressure. He makes a lot of bad mistakes when an opponent gets into his head. Sure, he’s had only one interception on his stat sheet so far, but there are probably 4-5 throws that should have been interceptions. Not to mention our receivers have a case of the drops this season. That doesn’t help. I think if Notre Dame dominates the line and doesn’t give him time to get into rhythm, then he’s toast.
3. In its prime (back in the Harbaugh/Shaw years), Stanford became known for being fantastic in the trenches, especially on offense — how’s the line looking after a rough last few years, and do you think they’ll be able to get much of a push and/or protect Warren against this Irish defensive front?
David Ta, Channel Tree Sports: Good observation! We are totally screwed! Perhaps the biggest reason behind the struggles of the Stanford’s Tunnel Workers Union is lack of NIL spending. Stanford has a room full of guards because we won’t shell out for tackles – one of the most sought after players in football. I think we’re trying to play moneyball because (i) we can’t outspend everyone else and (ii) admissions rejects 95% of transfers on the market. The result is a motley crew of OL pieces built to play guard instead of tackle. We have one true tackle type player (LT Niki Prongos) and that’s a project player who Stanford took a flier on.
To make things worse, we’ve had a bunch of injuries on the OL. When C Aiden Kilstrom went down with an ACL tear in Hawai’i, our offense stalled hard. Getting Niki Prongos (a future NFL draft pick) back reinvigorated our offensive line because guys could start playing in position. This was a huge reason why we beat Georgia Tech. The offensive line is probably capable against the same level of talent, but I think Notre Dame is too much for us.
In other words: we are totally screwed!
4. Which position groups on this Cardinal team would you say are strengths, and which are weak links – what are the names to know? If you were ND, how would you attack Kris Richard’s defensive group?
David Ta, Channel Tree Sports: As mentioned above, the weakest link has been the offensive line. If I were to point to one position group that has been behind the fall of Stanford football, it is the offensive line.
The wide receiver group is probably our strongest group. I mentioned a bad case of the drops, but that seems to be getting better. Caden High is such a shifty, elusive player who can run after the catch. Nico Brown seems to be our most sure-handed player. Atticus Joseph is a tough freshman who can make tough catches.
The defense is just terrible. There’s an old John McKay quote that aptly summarizes the Stanford defense: “Can’t stop a pass, or a run… otherwise we’re in great shape.”
We just can’t seem to tackle. I think we lead the nation in missed tackles or are at least close to it. We only have one interception on the season so far and the cornerback who made the catch landed funny and immediately tore his ACL, out for the season. Kris Richard is an accomplished coach, but he’s struggling mightily. Personally, I think his problem is that he’s trying to force the players he has into a scheme they don’t fit.
If I were Notre Dame looking to attack the Stanford defense, I would… do anything I want! Have a ball, pad those stats for the Heisman campaign. If Stanford were to throw together a respectable defensive effort, it’d be through the defense line. The Cardinal are great at getting penetration, especially Braden Marceau-Olayinka. If they get pressure, then maybe Stanford makes things interesting.
David Ta, Channel Tree Sports:
Joshua Garnett (320 pounds) – A nasty, physical player who loved to hit. Just so much fun to watch him open up holes for Christian McCaffrey.
Nate Herbig (335 pounds) – NFL Draft Report: “Built like a refrigerator with thick arms on it.”
Andrus Peat (313 pounds) – Mike Mayock: “He’s got dancing feet with that lower body. It’s unbelievable. Look at the body, look at that bubble butt … thighs, I mean that’s they’re power generators right there.” Massive, powerful tackle who was great at opening lines for the rushing attack behind our Rose Bowl years.
Harrison Phillips (295 pounds) – An anchor for our defense during the Bryce Love years, he had incredible production for a DT over his final two seasons, including 7.0 sacks in 2016 and 7.5 sacks in 2017. Harrison Phillips led all FBS defensive linemen with 103 tackles in 2017. He describes himself as “Horrible Harry” on the field. But by all accounts, he’s a pretty great person off the field.
Aziz Shittu (288 pounds) – Very dominant in our 2016 Rose Bowl victory (8 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks). He’s an unselfish, tough as nail rough run stuffer who can play all along the line. Also, chillest dude you’ll ever meet.
Honorable Mention – Rintaro Sasaki of Stanford baseball. He came from Japan to play baseball in the US. After spending several months in the US eating tons of American food, he gained 50 pounds and became 300 pounds – morbidly obese. USA No.1?
6. Please power-rank the following Stanfords (or any other Stanfords) using whatever reasoning you like:
- Stanford University
- Stanford Hall* (the dorm I lived in at Notre Dame)
- Allen Stanford: A former American financier who masterminded a massive $7 billion Ponzi scheme. He famously poured money into professional cricket before being convicted of fraud in 2012
- Stanford, Kentucky: One of the oldest cities in Kentucky, founded in 1786 by pioneer Benjamin Logan.
- Stanford White: A famous and influential American architect of the late 19th century. He designed major landmarks like Washington Square Arch and the second Madison Square Garden.
- Stanford Moore: An American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972 for his work on the structure of the enzyme ribonuclease.
- Stanford Torus: A proposed design for a NASA space habitat capable of housing 10,000 to 140,000 permanent residents, conceptualized in 1975.
- Stan Ford: A highly celebrated British World War II veteran and Royal Navy survivor of the D-Day landings. After surviving the torpedoing of his ship, HMS Fratton, he dedicated his life to service and became a prominent ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial.
- Stanley Ford: An American tennis player who won multiple USTA National Men’s Senior Championships in the 1985–1991 era and was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
- Dr. Stan Ford: An American-Austrian classical pianist, musicologist, and long-time professor of piano at the prestigious Mozarteum University Salzburg in Austria
*Pat Rick Editor’s Note: RIP in Peace to the Cinderblock Palace of Love
Sam Weyen, Channel Tree Sports: You did your research! Readers, you don’t realize how good you have it with this Notre Dame site. I’ve seen some of the other SB Nation authors around town and… just be grateful yours puts in the hard work.
- Samford University — Growing up in Atlanta and attending a Christian school, this is the school all of my mom’s church friends thought I was attending when I told them I was heading to Stanford while cornered in the Piggly Wiggly aisle. Samford, a small Christian college in Birmingham, has a great t-shirt that says “Sam NOT Stan” and seeing as my name is Sam, it’s gold in my book. Also my friend Caroline went there and she’s a chiller. 5 stars.
- Stanford Pines — Gravity Falls fans, where are you?
- Stan Ford — The best to ever do it.
- Dr. Stan Ford — The best to ever duet.**
- Stanford, Kentucky — I went camping near Mammoth Cave recently, so Kentucky I’m on high on Kentucky (for now)
- Allen Stanford — Ponzi schemes are tough to pull off so all I can do is respect it.
- Stanford University — Ponzi schemes are tough to pull off so all I can do is respect it.
- Stanford Moore — Not exactly discovering powerhouses of the cell, but it’s cellular biology so points for proximity I guess
- Stanley Ford — I love tennis, but I’m a stan of the western grip (looking at you Nadal) and Google says this man was traditional semi-western. Pass.
- Stanford White — second Madison Square Garden? Copycat loser.
- Stanford Torus — proposed design? Conceptualized? This thing is as real as my one night stand with Manti Teo’s girlfriend.
- Stanford Hall — I just assume Notre Dame has gendered dorms with strict curfews and I can’t reward that type of behavior in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty six. Last place.
**Pat Rick Editor’s Note: !!!!!!!
7. We’re getting into Spooky Season, and considering I just asked a Purdue writer something similar a couple weeks ago, I have to ask you as well: which FBS mascots do you feel are the most soulless/horrifying, and where does the Stanford Tree rank among them? The Tree sometimes just comes across as zany, but I do feel it would fit pretty nicely as the monster/killer in a low-budget horror film as well.
Sam Weyen, Channel Tree Sports: Tree would make a great campy slasher horror villain, not only thanks to its startling fixed grin and apex predator front-facing eyes, but also because it’s self aware! Tree is one of the few P4 mascot that knows its own stupidity, basks in it, froths with rabies-like enthusiasm to demonstrate its irreverent detachment from the profligacy that is John Phillip Sousa’s America!!! And as I’m typing I realize that my metatextual thesis sorta proves the point, because aren’t all campy slasher horror flicks secretly a pretentious allegory?
WKU’s Big Red comes to mind. Have him roll around in the mud and he’d be a great Babadook companion—children’s horror creature gone wrong. Style the red as blood and you’ve got yourself an indie film primed for a Razzie.
I won’t insult the intelligence of our Notre Dame companions by listing your Leprechaun, primarily because 1993’s film of the same name featuring Warwick Davis and… holy shoot is that Jennifer Anniston? How’d they land her? Well anyway, a horror movie franchise already called dibs on leprechauns, meaning your mascot can rest easy. Actually two franchises: don’t forget Disney Channel’s body horror original Luck of the Irish. What were we watching as kids?
Oski the Bear should be mentioned in a conversation about “horror” and “soulless.” Not because it’s easy to put the crosshairs on a bear that shouldn’t be within 100 feet of an elementary school, but because ever since Winnie the Pooh went public domain, there have been some really haunting Pooh Bear horror movies, namely Blood and Honey (which is getting a sequel). Anyway, go watch that and then come back to read to my rants. All told, I think Oski would make a great demonic Pooh stand in. And he should consider the career move, because this whole football thing might not work out for Kal.
Before you call me a hypocrite:
To rapid fire a few more: Arizona’s Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat are terrifying for their insistence on pedaling heteronormative marriage in our Western Massachusetts covid-consciousness lesbian bar world (if you know you know); Oregon’s Duck is terrifying once you (like me) volunteer at a natural history museum and learn about Duck anatomy; Ole Miss ditched Colonel Reb and adopted Tony the Landshark who in my humble opinion does NOT get mentioned enough (it’s always Purdue Pete, or Dartmouth’s Keggy the Keg, or Rhode Island School of Design’s friendly Scrotie the Scrotum). Tony would be a fine addition to my FBS horror pantheon, bringing the most innovation to sharks since dermal denticles or Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens.
8. Alright let’s get down to it: who wins, what’s the final score, and how does it happen?
Sam Weyen, Channel Tree Sports:
Notre Dame 52, Stanford 7
Notre Dame’s star-studded defensive line completely shuts down Stanford except for a garbage time touchdown. 2,000 tweets flood my timeline featuring the same tired gif of a tree going through a woodchipper, but this time it feels like my soul being fed into the maw of the machine.
Okay folks, let’s give a MASSIVE thank you and shout-out to David and Sam for being the absolute best Q&A partners over the years and for once again delivering with some truly unhinged and wildly honest responses to both the real questions and the REAL questions (big beefy boys, power-ranking Stanfords, soulless mascots).
I highly recommend you head over to Channel Tree Sports to check out all the great and entertaining content these guys are putting out about Stanford athletics, and suggest you also toss their site a follow on Twitter, along with some personal follows for David and Sam. They’re a blessing to the Twitter timeline, I can promise you that.
With all that said, that’s it for this week — I’ll be at the game to scream this in-person, but for anyone who won’t be within earshot of me, per usual I’ll end this with a GO IRISH, BEAT CARDINAL!!!
Source: www.onefootdown.com
