The 2021 Stanford Cardinal football team represented

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The ...

. The Cardinal were led by eleventh-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at

Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencement exercises. Opened in 19 ...

as members of the North Division of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. They finished the season 3–9, 2–7 in Pac-12 play, to finish last place in the North Division. This was Shaw's worst season ever and Stanford's worst record since the team went 1–11 in the 2006 season.

Schedule

Personnel

Roster

Depth chart

Game summaries

Vs. Kansas State

Kansas State began with a 14-point lead at halftime with performances by quarterback

Skylar Thompson Skylar John Thompson (born June 4, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was drafted by the Miami D ...

and running back Deuce Vaughn. The Wildcats managed to score 24 points before allowing Stanford to put points on the board with just 3:16 left in the game. Stanford head coach David Shaw stated: "This game was not indicative of how hard we've played, how hard we've practiced and how well we practiced. Disappointing to me that we didn't go out there and execute better." Shaw is in his 11th season as Stanford's coach. Stanford started senior Jack West at quarterback and rotated him with sophomore Tanner McKee throughout the game. The Wichita Eagle reported that the stadium was mostly filled with Kansas State fans and that Kansas State significantly out-performed Stanford. Specifically, the paper published that "the Kansas State football team opened its season with a statement victory on Saturday at AT&T Stadium."

At No. 14 USC

In Tanner McKee's first start as Stanford quarterback, the Cardinal pulled off a surprising rout of USC in the Coliseum, leading by as many as 29 points in the 4th quarter. Following the game, USC head coach

Clay Helton Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern Eagles football, Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC Trojans football, US ...

was fired and replaced by

Donte Williams Donte Antonio Williams (born September 1, 1982) is an American football coach who is the defensive backs coach at the University of Georgia. He previously served as USC's associate head coach under Clay Helton, and he became USC's interim head co ...

as interim head coach.

At Vanderbilt

No. 24 UCLA

No. 3 Oregon

At No. 22 Arizona State

At Washington State

Washington

Utah

At Oregon State

California

No. 6 Notre Dame

Rankings

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Stanford Cardinal football navbox

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Stanford Cardinal football seasons

Stanford Cardinal football The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The program was previously in the Pac-12 Conference. The team is known as ...