As bowl games named after Pop-Tarts and Famous Toasteries materialize around us this December, we remember both that (1) corporate sponsorships can sometimes be fun and (2) College Football is in the air! While Stanford is once again not a part of the bowl festivities, there's still plenty to root for—like a Pac-12 national champion or Kal losing the *checks notes* Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in *checks notes again* Shreveport, Louisiana.
I swear that bowl in particular sounds more like a punishment than a reward, but hey Kal fans congrats on losing to Texas Tech 34-14. GO CARDINAL RAIDERS!
Now, bundled up in our best Palo Alto winter attire (a light jean jacket) and with the benefit of some time to reflect, we here at Channel Tree wanted to travel back in time and spike your apple ciders with some Stanford football game notes from the end of the season that we we've been saving just for you. Without further ado, some thoughts on Big Game and Notre Dame:
Big Game
On a drizzly Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, Stanford fell to Kal in the 126th Big Game, 27-15.
Kal freshman QB Fernando Mendoza (24/36 for 294 and 3 TDs) thoroughly outshone Stanford QB Ashton Daniels (18/35 for 188 yards and 1 TD) on the night... though in fairness Daniels might not have been 100% healthy.
Big Game turned out to be one of Kal's most successful passing games of the season (#2 in passer rating, #2 in yards per attempt, #3 in passing yards), which can either be attributed to Stanford's absymal pass defense or statistical anomaly. Either way, Mendoza—who did not start the season for the Golden Bears—seems to have asserted himself as the answer at QB for the next few years. The QB he replaced (Sam Jackson V) is already in the portal.
No players from Stanford's committee of running backs could garner more than 8 carries or 20 yards, whereas Kal's Jadyn Ott rushed 36 times for 166 yards and a TD. Despite Ott's totals, Stanford's run defense showed signs of hope (at least in this game... not to forshadow too hard), holding Ott to over a yard below his per carry average on the year.
The Cardinal were still within 6 points entering the 4th quarter. One reason they couldn't close? Penalties. Stanford racked up 9 flags for 88 yards, a consistent bane of theirs this season. The Cardinal ranked 115th in penalty yards per game in 2023. Yikes.
On the positive side, Tristan Sinclair was a DAWG all game before his ejection for targeting (which was appealed and overturned days later). He was around the ball and closer to the line of scrimmage than we'd ever seen him. He had fire, showed effort, and was productive. The Cardinal ILB group is starting to emerge after years of being an issue.
Speaking of DAWGS, TE Sam Roush had the best game of his career with 4 electric receptions for 62 yards. We may have another NFL talent on our hands in a few years.
Continuing the positive, Kicker Joshua Karty was a phenom. He nailed stress-free field goals of 44, 53, and 50, making him 10th in the nation in made field goals per game. Moreover, among the top guys, only 3 (Miami of Ohio's Graham Nicholson, UNLV's Jose Pizano, and North Carolina's Noah Burnette) had a higher make percentages after rivalry week. Karty climbed to seventh in the nation on 50+ yarders, and has since delcared for NFL draft. Boy will he be missed!
Notre Dame
After fumbling the Axe (but avoiding Shreveport in the process—silver lining!) Stanford took on Notre Dame and played them really tough... until the end of the second quarter. The final score was 56-23, but for an Irish revenge game (recall that one of Stanford's three wins last year was against a ranked Notre Dame in South Bend... lol), Stanford held its own for longer than many (I) had thought.
One stat of proof, however cherry-picked: Stanford's yards per play signficantly exceeded Notre Dame's average allowed. So clearly we'll be beating up on ACC teams soon.
On the flipside, however, the Irish vicimtized the Cardinal on the ground, resulting in one of their worst defense performances in maybe 20 games. Irish RB Audric Estime (25 carries for 238 yards and 4 TDs) is arguably the best running back in the nation (at least, Mel Kiper Jr. thinks so). This was a mismatch in the trenches from the beginning—you can't be too shocked—but the damage he did was unspeakably bad. This was Notre Dame's best rushing performance in 3 years. Makes you miss Bryce Love, doesn't it?
Since the ground game was working, Notre Dame threw 46% fewer passes than they usually do. For what it's worth, though, against what little passing attack Stanford did have to defend against they did solidly, holding a top 20 passing game to right around their season average.
But enough about Notre Dame, what about Stanford's offense? Well we learned that Ashton Daniels is probably not the answer at QB. He can make big plays but not consistently enough.
By contrast, WR Elic Ayomanor (7 receptions for 58 yards) is one of the best players in the nation—over 1,000 yards this year despite often being double or triple teamed. He earned the Canadian Heisman for his breakout season.
And though I've already waxed poetic about Karty, this game moved him up to 4th in the nation in made field goals per game, earned him the highest percentage of makes among the top five Power Five kickers, and secured a tie for most 50+ yard field goals made this season. Truly the Jake Bailey of placekickers. How he was snubbed for the Lou Groza finalist list we may never know, but I blame east coast bias.
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A tough end to the year, especially with so many winnable games going the other way, but it does feel like the Cardinal are trending upward. For now, we enjoy the shadenfreude of Kal getting crushed in cajun country or Notre Dame still having never won a New Year's 6 Bowl and count our blessings, watching some bowls, and hope some more crystal balls on Rivals go our way.
Happy Holidays from us at Channel Tree!
--Fear The Me.