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Introduction to Stanford
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Tiger Boards - Clemson Football
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Introduction to Stanford

65

Sep 26, 2024, 8:35 PM

Hi -- Stanford fan here!

I was really looking forward to seeing my first game in Death Valley, but I had to cancel my trip due to the storm.

So instead since I'm sure most of you aren't familiar with Stanford, I figured I'd give you a writeup.


Historical Record
Stanford is 0-1 against Clemson, losing in the Gator Bowl in 1986. Clemson had a 27-0 lead at the half and Stanford came back to 27-21 to almost win it in the last minute. Yes, I was there.

Location
Stanford is a suburban campus about 40 minutes south of San Francisco and 30 minutes north of San Jose. It's in the middle of Silicon Valley, which isn't a geographic place but rather a nickname due to all the computer companies clustered there. The campus is large with mostly Spanish architecture -- sandstone walls and red clay roof tiles.

Mascot/Logo
The tree in Stanford's logo is a reference to a large California redwood tree in the adjacent town of Palo Alto, which is literally Spanish for "tall tree".
Stanford's official mascot is the Cardinal, as in the color red.
The Tree mascot is actually part of the Stanford Band, but because the color red can't do much, the Tree has become the unofficial mascot for the school.
Yes, we are aware that both a color and a tree are not particularly threatening.
Yes, we are aware the the Tree costume is weird and ugly. That's part of its charm. The Tree costume is hand-made new each year by the student selected to be the mascot.

Fans
You won't see a lot of Stanford fans at your game simply because there aren't many of us.
With about 8000 undergradatues, Stanford is the 2nd smallest school in the P4 conferences after Rice, and the school doesn't attract many fans from the general populace because the Bay Area media market is dominated by pro teams: the SF 49ers, Golden State Warriors, SF Giants, and San Jose Sharks.
A decade ago when Stanford was in the Top 10 and featured Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey, the team would draw about 35,000 fans. Games against big opponents (Notre Dame, Oregon, USC) could sell out their 52,000 seat stadium. In the years since the fan base has diminished as the program hasn't given them much to cheer for.
The fans who do show up will be nice and generally harmless. They may live close to Napa and prefer a nice white wine, but they'll happily accept a beer!

Athletics
Stanford has traditionally done well in non-revenue sports: women's basketball, tennis, swimming, etc.
The school has a 48-year streak of winning at least one NCAA title.
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, 39 athletes associated with Stanford won medals, more than any other university. If it were its own country it would have finished 7th.

Unfortunately that success doesn't translate to football or men's basketball.
The football team traditionally finished in the middle to lower end of the Pac-8/10/12 with flashes of brilliance every decade or so.
That changed in 2007 with the hiring of Jim Harbaugh as coach. Harbaugh assembled a monster offensive line that brought the school to an Orange Bowl win, while his successor David Shaw led the team to three Rose Bowls.
From 2010 to 2015 the team just barely missed the playoffs several times, and it had three 2nd-place Heisman finishers in Toby Gerhart, Andrew Luck (twice), and Christian McCaffrey.
Mention either of these topics to a Stanford fan and you're liable to get an earful about East Coast bias.
From 2016 to 2022 the program collapsed. Fans can argue why that happened but we all agree that the timing was terrible given the implosion of the Pac-12. (Thank you, ACC!)
Currently in its 2nd year under head coach Troy Taylor, the team is still rebuilding but has shown signs of life.

Despite being a place that is considered to be on the cutting edge, Stanford has been slow to adapt to the changing college football landscape.
Though Stanford has an NIL collective along with a base of extraordinarily rich alumni, the school's administration has been unenthusiastic about playing that game.
Same thing with the transfer portal. Before a couple of years ago you could count the total number of football transfers on one hand. In the past couple of years the team has gotten 8 transfers, most of them graduate transfers. But its likely that Stanford will always lose more to the portal than it gains.

In short, Stanford football appears to have reverted to its historical mean. I expect it will finish in the middle of the ACC with a rare rise to the top.

What to expect when Stanford is on offense
The one player you may have heard of is WR Elic Ayomanor. His one-handed touchdown catch against Syracuse last week made the top spot on SportsCenter's top 10. Ayomanor is rated as one of the top 5 receivers in this year's NFL draft. Put him in single coverage at your risk, as Syracuse found out.

QB Ashton Daniels is a running QB. In several games he was the leading rusher on the team. Daniels has a tendency to leave the pocket too early and has been struggling with accuracy lately. Long throws are low percentage. But when Daniels does take off running, he can get the 1st down. He takes big hits either by hanging onto the ball too long or not sliding soon enough. I'll be surprised if he stays healthy this season.

Backup QB Justin Lamson is also a running QB. He gets put into the game in short-yardage situation and almost always the ball.

Stanford traditionally has had a strong kicking game. All-American Joshua Karty graduated last year and is now playing for the LA Rams. His replacement, senior Emmet Kenney, is including a 51-yarder at Syracuse last week. Coach Taylor has shown himself to be a gambler, going for it on 4th down at times that give fans a heart attack, but when he decides to go for the field goal the fans have no worries.

Stanford's running game has struggled for several years most likely due to a lack of healthy strong O-linemen, the opposite of the reputation Stanford had during the Harbaugh years.


What to expect when Stanford is on defense

Under Harbaugh and Shaw, Stanford's defensive motto was "Party in the backfield!" as it often harassed the QB. We haven't seen that in recent years until the Syracuse game last week.

OLB David Bailey is the main player to watch. He was named ACC Linebacker of the Week last week after two sacks and a forced fumble.

Otherwise Stanford's D is still rebuilding. It's improving but has shown itself to need help from its opponent. They will struggle to slow down an accurate passer like Klubnik or a strong RB like Mafah.

Conclusion
Stanford is scrappy and under Troy Taylor the team does not quit.
Each year Stanford manages to win a game or two that nobody expects them to, including some big upsets.
However I don't expect an upset this week.
Clemson has depth that will be hard for Stanford to handle.
With the wet weather I expect Clemson can keep the ball on the ground and run straight at Stanford, who will be able to hang in there for a while but ultimately will wear down.

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Solid first post! Welcome! And good luck after this week.***

10

Sep 26, 2024, 8:37 PM



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Re: Introduction to Stanford

7

Sep 26, 2024, 8:38 PM

Good post.
Why did yall join the Atlanta Coast instead of say forming a Pacific Coast?
I know it is the $$, is that worth it to yall?

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the tug abides


Re: Introduction to Stanford

13

Sep 26, 2024, 9:11 PM


Good post.
Why did yall join the Atlanta Coast instead of say forming a Pacific Coast?
I know it is the $$, is that worth it to yall?




Money actually wasn't the main factor, as seen by the fact that Stanford & Cal gave up most of their TV money to join the ACC.

It was about competition and academics.

In the non-revenue sports Stanford has a lot of teams that are Top 10 and a lot of Olympic athletes who want to compete against the best. They wouldn't have been able to do that in a Pacific conference without the former Pac-12 schools, and the programs would have withered.

Regarding academics, conferences are about more than just sports. Almost all of the schools in the former Pac-12 were research universities. That association is important to Stanford.

In the near future I can see football and maybe men's basketball creating their own league outside of the current conference system while the non-revenue sports revert to conferences that make more sense geographically.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

3

Sep 26, 2024, 11:22 PM

Thank you. I would gander that you enjoyed the recent men's futbol match. You would love and appreciate Historic Riggs. Even though we were on the losing end, it was awesome hosting Stanford. Nothing wrong with the non revenue sports... Can't wait to play y'all in softball and lax. Those sports are gaining popularity. The weather should lift, try to make it last minute. You'll enjoy the atmosphere.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

5

Sep 26, 2024, 8:45 PM

Thanks for the write up. Good stuff.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

3

Sep 26, 2024, 8:52 PM

TLDR
But. Welcome.
Go Tigers!

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Class of '87


Hey CCTOP..

3

Sep 26, 2024, 10:02 PM

Thx for informative & newsy post!

Light the Palo area since visited it in Dec 1987, toured the stunningly beautiful campus as well as entered the empty football stadium and was impressed by the tall trees seen over the upper walls.

Oh, 16 year old Son & I were at that 1986 Stanford-Clemson game too and sat behind Pep Band who were fun to watch till your bruising FB almost caught up to us score-wise near game's end.

Disappointed you had to cancel your trip but I'll toast you at The ESSO Club which is Brett Mustberger's fav beer tavern (and the announcer who proclaimed that rubbing Howard's ROCK & Team running down The HILL as the most exciting 25? seconds in college football entries).

And yes, that Hill is steep and has a rise & dip mid-way down where some players will use it as a ski slope to go 3-5 ft into the air.

Take care in California and enjoy the game wherever you get your buzz on for The Cardinal~

LBB:
Original Clemson PAW Flag Bearer 1977-92.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

7

Sep 26, 2024, 10:02 PM

BTW there's a little piece of California inside Clemson's Death Valley sitting on a pedestal at the top of The Hill.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

4

Sep 26, 2024, 10:13 PM

Great post dude! Sorry you won’t be able to experience Clemson and the game day atmosphere there, it’s truly inexplicable.

You would have enjoyed the hospitality of the majority of our fans, and the enthusiasm of southern football.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

3

Sep 26, 2024, 10:18 PM

Welcome!

Still time to hop on a plane. Weather will be great > 12 noon Friday.

QB Ashton Daniels Is from Buford, GA, a well known program around here. Saw an interview with him. Seems like a great guy.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

2

Sep 26, 2024, 10:22 PM

Wonderful work and thank you!

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Good analysis and very informative. Thanks!******

1

Sep 26, 2024, 10:36 PM



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Re: Introduction to Stanford

1

Sep 26, 2024, 10:36 PM

Thanks. Good information.

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Great post but 1 correction - Duke and WF

3

Sep 26, 2024, 10:37 PM

are both smaller in enrollment than Stanford. Duke at about 6500 and WF even smaller at around 5400.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

2

Sep 26, 2024, 10:42 PM

Thank you for your post. Hope you have a safe trip out and back. Good luck in all your other games.

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Great post, thanks.

3

Sep 26, 2024, 10:48 PM

And, I always thought Stanford was a golf school, Tiger and Michelle Wie.

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Re: Great post, thanks.


Sep 27, 2024, 8:21 AM

And don’t forget Tom Watson

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

4

Sep 27, 2024, 12:04 AM

Welcome to TigerNet and the ACC!

I have visited the gorgeous Stanford campus a couple of time, most recently when I was in the Bay area in January 2019 when our Tigers demolished Alabama in the National Championship game 44-16 at Levi's Stadium.

I am sorry you had to cancel your trip to Tiger Town and will not be able to visit our beautiful campus. The city of Clemson, South Carolina only has about 17,000 full-time residents plus another 25,000 students attending the University. The campus is in the rolling hills"where the Blue Ridge (Mountains) yawn its greatness" (the opening line to our alma mater) and located on the shore of Lake Hartwell. The campus was the former plantation of U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and his son-in-law Thomas Greene Clemson. Clemson was a diplomat, mining engineer, agriculturalist, and all around renaissance man. He left his estate to the State of South Carolina to establish a high-seminary of learning, as all four of his children died before reaching adulthood. He was instrumental in founding the University of Maryland, as well as Clemson University.

Clemson has a relatively small alumni base as it was a small, all-male military college until the 1950s. It has grown a lot in the last 15-20 years. When i attended Clemson in the 1980s, there were only around 12,000 students. But even then we filled an 80,000+ football stadium. Our alumni are "Ever Loyal." We can't quite describe our special love and loyalty for Clemson University, so we just say "there's something in those hills."

Go Tigers!

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

3

Sep 29, 2024, 6:18 PM

So that game went not liked I'd hoped, but about like I expected.

It's been fun chatting with you all this week. I'm looking forward to a trip to Death Valley next time we play in three years.

May you stay safe and the storm cleanup go quickly.

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Re: Introduction to Stanford

2

Sep 29, 2024, 6:31 PM

Thanks for that info. All I really knew about Stanford was that it has a proud history of academics and a solid baseball program. As weird as it is, and I know I’m in the minority, I appreciate what Stanford brings to the ACC. Welcome!

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