Five questions going into the 2025 Stanford Football season
With the Stanford football season starting this weekend with a Week 0 game at Hawaii (Saturday, August 23rd at 4:30 PM PT on CBS), fall camp is now over for the Cardinal. While there’s a lot of things we learned about the Cardinal during the fall camp period, there are still some questions that I have as the season is about to start. Below are five that are on my mind.
READ: Breaking down the 2025 Stanford Football schedule
VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference: Hawaii
#1. Can Ben Gulbranson deliver as the starting quarterback? Oregon State grad transfer Ben Gulbranson has been named the starting quarterback for Stanford. Due to his combination of experience, IQ, and simply playing the best of all the quarterbacks in fall camp, Gulbranson won the starting quarterback competition over redshirt freshman Elijah Brown. If Stanford wants to have an improved season this year, Ben Gulbranson better deliver the goods. Can he? We’re about to find out.
READ: What it means: Ben Gulbranson named the starting quarterback for Stanford
#2. Will Frank Reich’s impact translate into better results on the field? Interim head coach Frank Reich is saying all the right things and by all accounts has brought a great spirit to the program. The players all seem to be fully behind him. On top of that, he’s bringing in an NFL style offense that is different than what was being run last year. All of that on paper sounds good, but will any of it actually translate to better results on the field? That’s probably the biggest question out there right now as it pertains to Stanford.
#3. How will having two defensive coordinators work out? Stanford has a pair of co-defensive coordinators in Bobby April III and Andy Thompson. April is coaching the outside linebackers as well while Thompson coaches the inside linebackers. Thompson was brought over by Troy Taylor before Taylor got the pink slip, making for an interesting situation there. Having two defensive coordinators could work out, but it’s still kind of odd. It’ll be interesting to see how that part plays itself out.
#4. Who will lead the team in rushing yards? Stanford has a lot of different options at running back: Micah Ford, Cole Tabb, Tuna Altahir, and Sedrick Irvin Jr. are all squarely in the mix to get their share of snaps with Chris Davis Jr. and Champ Hampton right behind them. It’ll be interesting to see who leads the team in rushing yards this year and if anyone emerges as ahead of the pack.
#5. Will the offensive line be markedly better? The offensive line has a pair of transfers starting in Niki Prongos (UCLA) and Nick Fattig (Texas Tech) with a bunch of other guys returning with more experience. On paper, the unit should be better this season and for Stanford’s sake, it better be. The offensive line is perhaps the most critical unit on the team and it’s hard to get a feel for how much better they really are. We should know soon enough though as Saturday’s opener is fast approaching.
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