Stanford football’s 2024 season begins this week, which means it is time for me to break down their schedule. Stanford is entering year two of the Troy Taylor era and their first season in the ACC after the Pac-12 fell apart. They are coming off a 3-9 season, hoping to win more games this season. Ok, let’s get after it!
GoStanford.com: 2024 Stanford football schedule
The Cardinal will begin the season on Friday, August 30th at home against TCU (7:30 PM PT on ESPN). TCU is two years removed from an improbable run to the national championship game that made the heads of Cal fans explode as they watched their former head coach Sonny Dykes have success that they haven’t even remotely come close to having. Though to make Cal fans feel bit better, I totally get why they parted ways with Dykes. The defense Cal had under Dykes was atrocious and while his offenses were always exciting, they could never overcome the poor defenses they had.
Last season, TCU went 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the Big XII. They’re looking to have a bounce back season and prove that they are more like the team that reached the national championship game than the team they were last season. This game should be a lot of fun as openers always are. While TCU is undoubtedly favored, it feels winnable for Stanford.
After facing TCU, Stanford will stay at home to face Cal Poly on Saturday, September 7th (4:00 PM PT on ACCNX). Cal Poly is coming off a season in which they went 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky. If Stanford loses this game, they should consider packing up the season and trying again next year. This is the one game on the schedule that Stanford should be able to pencil in as a victory no problem. If you can’t beat a bad FCS team at home, I’m not sure who you can beat.
Stanford will have a bye week the weekend of September 14th. That will give them a chance to rest up a bit and evaluate how the first two games of the season have gone. At a minimum, they should be a 1-1 at this point of the season, but if all goes well they’ll be 2-0 and feeling good.
The next game for Stanford will be on Friday, September 20th at Syracuse (4:30 PM PT on ESPN). This will be a homecoming of sorts for Stanford quarterback Justin Lamson as he transferred to Stanford from Syracuse. He’ll be fired up for this one. Syracuse went 6-7 overall and 2-6 in the ACC last season. They were a bad team, but they did win a couple of games in league play. Given it’s the first league game for Stanford and it’s on the road, this will not be an easy game for them, but of all the road games they have in league, this might actually be the most winnable. Especially if they are coming in 2-0.
Following their game at Syracuse, Stanford will face No. 14 Clemson on Saturday, September 28th (Kickoff time TBA). Clemson is a top 15 team at the moment, playing in one of the top atmospheres in all of college football. This is one of the games that Stanford is most excited about. Clemson had a bit of a down year last year relative to their standards, but they still had a winning record, going 9-4 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. If Stanford wins this game, that will likely be the biggest upset of the weekend.
Stanford will then come home to face Virginia Tech on Saturday, October 5th (Kickoff time TBA). The Hokies went 7-6 overall and 5-3 in the ACC last season. They are receiving the second most votes of any non-ranked team in the AP Top 25 poll and expected to be a very strong team this year. This will not be an easy game at all for Stanford even with it being at home.
Stanford will then hit the road to face No. 7 Notre Dame on Saturday, October 12th (12:30 PM PT on NBC). This is a rivalry game with a trophy on the line, which makes it fun. Last time Stanford was in South Bend, they beat Notre Dame, so that should give them a bit of hope. Of course, that will also add even more fuel to the fire for Notre Dame and give them extra motivation. This one is going to be tough. Notre Dame is once again a top ten team, coming off a strong season in which they went 10-3 overall. It’s going to take a very strong performance from Stanford in order for them to have a shot at winning.
Stanford will then come back home to face SMU on Saturday, October 19th (Kickoff TBA). SMU went 11-3 overall and 6-0 in the American Athletic Conference last season and joins Stanford and Cal as the new teams in the ACC. On paper, this should be a tough game but after watching SMU scrape by Nevada 29-24 in Reno, this one feels like a game Stanford might get. Obviously a lot of time between now and October 19th, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of shape SMU is in when they come to The Farm.
Stanford will stay at home the following weekend as they welcome Wake Forest to The Farm on Saturday, October 26th for homecoming (Kickoff TBA). Wake Forest went 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the ACC last season. Their lone win of league play was against Pittsburgh at home. Given it’s homecoming and also the fact that Stanford will have been home for a second straight week, this is a game that Stanford should feel confident about winning. Certainly the most winnable game of league play.
Following the game against the Demon Deacons, Stanford will face No. 24 NC State on the road on Saturday November 2nd (Kickoff TBA). NC State is ranked and coming off a season in which they went 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. This is one of the toughest games on Stanford’s schedule. If they can make this competitive and give themselves a chance to win, that would be huge.
After facing NC State on the road, Stanford will have no more games outside of the Bay Area, which is nice. They’ll also have a second bye week the weekend of November 9th. This will give Stanford a time to rest up, evaluate where things are at, and get ready for their final three games of the season.
The first of these final three games will be at home against Louisville on Saturday, November 2nd (Kickoff TBA). Louisville has the most votes any team not ranked in the AP Top 25, coming off a season in which they went 10-4 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. This will be the final home game of the season for the Cardinal and boy will it be a tough one.
The one thing that will help Stanford is the fact that they will be at home and coming off a bye. Louisville will be coming off a bye as well, but their previous game will have been on the road at Clemson. If Stanford is going to have one shocking win that nobody saw coming, due to the bye week and them being at home, this might be the one to pick. But once again, Stanford is going to be heavy underdogs going in.
Stanford will then head to Berkeley for the 127th Big Game on Saturday, November 23rd. This will be the first Big Game of the ACC era, which is crazy to think about. Cal has a dynamic running back in Jaydn Ott who will look to have a strong season and prove himself to be one of the top players in the country. Cal went 6-7 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12. They have won Big Game three years in a row and will be looking to keep the Stanford Axe for a fourth straight season. Given the game is in Berkeley and Cal is coming off a stronger season, this is going to be tough for Stanford. It feels winnable, but if Stanford is to win, they’re going to have to play their best football.
Following their battle with the Bears, Stanford will then close out the regular season against San Jose State on the road on Saturday, November 30th (1:00 PM PT on CBS). San Jose State has a new head coach in Ken Niumatalolo as Brent Brennan bolted Silicon Valley to take the head coaching job at Arizona. Given it’s a new staff over at San Jose State, this ought to be a win for Stanford. If they are coming off a Big Game win, they should have some momentum coming into San Jose State and then if they lose Big Game, they should be fired up to finish out the season with a win. Either way, Stanford should feel confident going into this game.
Overall, this a strong schedule for Stanford. They have three rivalry games, some challenging road opponents, and some challenging home opponents as well. If Stanford could just have an improved record from last year and go 4-8, that would be really encouraging. Anything beyond that should be gravy. I do have Stanford going 5-7, but I recognize that many models have 4-8 as a more realistic outcome for them. It’ll be interesting to see how they do and whether or not they’ll be able to exceed the expectations that have been set for them.
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