The Stanford Cardinal has historically fielded prolific offenses, led by star performers including quarterbacks Jim Plunkett (winner of the 1970 Heisman Trophy), John Elway (unanimous All-American and NFL Hall of Fame inductee), Andrew Luck (first-team All-American and four-time NFL Pro Bowler) and running back Christian McCaffrey (consensus All-American and 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year). However, the 2024 iteration of the Cardinal offense is out of sync. In four consecutive losses, Stanford has not once mustered more than 14 points.
The shortcomings of the Cardinal offense were displayed on Saturday when the SMU Mustangs visited Stanford Stadium. In a convincing 40-10 victory, Southern Methodist held the moribund Cardinal ground attack to 33 yards. The passing game was also inept, as Stanford QBs Ashton Daniels and Elijah Brown completed only 18-of-37 passes and threw two interceptions.
