The 2021 Stanford Cardinal football team represented
Stanford University in the
2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. 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 on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. It is the home of the Stanford Cardinal and hosts the university's commencemen ...
as members of the North Division of the
Pac-12 Conference. 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 football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas State and was drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2 ...
and running back
Deuce Vaughn
Christopher "Deuce" Vaughn II (born November 2, 2001) is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats.
Early years
Vaughn moved frequen ...
.
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. He was previously the head coach of USC from 2015 to 2021. Helton has also been an assistan ...
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 and defensive passing game coordinator at the University of Southern California (USC). He previously served as USC's associate head coac ...
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
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Stanford
Stanford Cardinal football seasons
Stanford Cardinal football