2024 NCAAF Cheat Sheet: Stanford Cardinal Stats & Odds

How Will Stanford Cardinal's 2024 Stats Adjust With Move to ACC?

July 17, 2024 168 5 minutes readNCAAF Picks & Parlays

Top Quarterback and Receiver Are Among the Key Returnees for Stanford in 2024

Will a change in conferences result in signs of improvement for Stanford?

When looking at the potential 2024 Stanford Cardinal stats, Stanford was the only Football Bowl Subdivision team that failed to win a home game during the 2023 season. The Cardinal did cover in two of those games.

Stanford was 4-5 in the college football picks against the spread (ATS) in Pac-12 play last season after going 3-15 ATS when facing Pac-12 teams in the previous two seasons. The Cardinal covered in four of 10 games as the underdog in 2023.

Just two of the seven home games landed over the total last season.

As the Cardinal heads into its first season in the ACC, there is plenty of work to do as Stanford finished 10th in total offense, and 11th in scoring offense while ending up last in the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense during the 2023 season.

Stanford Cardinal At A Glance

Odds to Win	Opening Odds	Current Odds
Championship	+100000	+100000
Conference	+50000	+50000
Regular Season Win Total	3.5 (o +102, u- -124)	3.5 (o +102, u- -124)
To Make Playoffs	Yes N/A, No N/A	Yes N/A, No N/A

Is It Bad News That Some Top Offensive Players Are Gone for Pitt?

Stanford returns quarterback Ashton Daniels and 1000-yard receiver Elic Ayomanor but something needs to be done to improve a rushing offense that averaged 3.5 yards per carry. The top two running backs are gone for the Cardinal.

Leading tackler Gaethan Bernadel, Tristan Sinclair, and sack leader David Bailey are among the returnees on defense. Will that result in some positive numbers in the 2024 Stanford Cardinal stats?

Transferring to Stanford can be challenging based on the high academic standing. That has resulted in just four incoming transfers this NCAAF season.

There have been nine incoming transfers for Stanford over the last three seasons. That’s about 30 minutes of work for Colorado coach Deion Sanders when it comes to the transfer portal.

Three of them came on defense. Defensive lineman Clay Patterson comes in from Yale after recording 11.5 sacks in 2023. Washington cornerback Jaivion Green, who had a season-high three tackles versus Stanford in 2023, and Northern Iowa linebacker Jahsiah Galvan look to produce for defense in need of playmakers.

The top-rated outgoing transfers were tight end Benjamin Yurosek, now at Georgia, defensive lineman Jaxson Moi who is transferred to Tennessee, and new Utah safety Alaka’i Gilman.

Championship Odds: New Head Coach Has Some Work to Do

With two of the first four games for Stanford coming against TCU and Clemson, it shouldn’t take long to figure out where Stanford stands as Troy Taylor takes over after David Shaw wrapped up the longest tenure for a Stanford head football coach.

Taylor has his work cut out for him. Stanford’s recruiting class was ranked sixth among ACC programs so perhaps some freshmen can make an immediate impact. However, this could be a long process as Stanford is 1-12 in its last 13 NCAA football games against ranked opponents.

We’re ready to take on the new challenge 🌲

Listen to @TroyTaylorStanU and his full interview on @theACCDN ⬇️#GoStanford https://t.co/athorludMZ

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) July 3, 2024

Stanford only lost to Arizona by one point and eventual College Football Playoff finalist Washington by nine points last season. However, there was also a 36-point loss to Oregon and a season-ending 56-23 defeat to Notre Dame.

The Stanford-Notre Dame rivalry continues even with a change of conferences so that is good news.

Conference Odds: Expectations Are Pretty Low in Palo Alto

Shaw led Stanford to five division titles in his first seven seasons at Stanford. However, things headed in the opposite direction with a 14-28 record over the last three seasons.

Notre Dame and California are the only college football teams on the 2024 schedule that the Cardinal also faced in 2023.

The first ACC game comes at Syracuse and while the Orange might not be considered a top-tier ACC program, they are tough to beat at home.

That is followed by a trip to Clemson, a home date with Virginia Tech, and then the annual showdown with Notre Dame so there will be some challenging times ahead for the college football picks.

Regular Season Wins: It is Not Looking Promising

The 2024 Stanford Cardinal stats should lead to Stanford being favored in Week 2 against Cal Poly and in the regular-season finale versus San Jose State. Other than that, the Cardinal might be the underdog in the other 10 games.

Since the start of the 2019 season, Stanford is 2-7 against Cal and Notre Dame and those are the only known commodities on the 2024 schedule for the Cardinal.

The bar is low at 3.5 in the projected win total department. With wins over Cal Poly and San Jose, that would mean that Stanford would need to find two more wins in the schedule.

It could happen, but our advice is to tread carefully when picking Stanford to sur 3.5 wins.

To Make Playoffs: Sure, Just Not In Football

We love the chances of Stanford winning the national championship as the men’s gymnastics team is the four-time defending NCAA champion, and the women’s golf program won two of the last three times.

Since 2000, Stanford has won 20 NCAA men’s team titles and 40 more on the women’s side. Oh, you mean the football team winning it all or at least making it into the 12-team College Football Playoff. We don’t think so.

If Taylor leads Stanford into a college bowl game, he should be on the short list of coach of the year candidates. That should be what the Cardinal is aiming for during the 2024 season.

Side Bets

Stanford opens the season as an 8½-point underdog at home against TCU according to the college football betting lines with the total currently at 61 so those are numbers to take a look at.

There are plenty of ACC players showing up in the odds of winning the Heisman Trophy. However, none of them happen to play for Stanford.

Daniels. Ayomanor. AGAIN.

📺 » FS1#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/S104Q1GWdY

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 29, 2023

Ayomanor did have nine catches for 146 yards against Washington a season ago. If only the Cardinal could get Colorado back on the schedule that would help his Heisman chances since Ayomanor had 13 catches, 294 yards, and three touchdowns against the Buffaloes in 2023.

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