The Stanford Cardinal were expected by many to occupy the basement in the Pac-12 football standings this year. Our Pac-12 football panel here at Trojans Wire agreed that Stanford would likely be the worst team in the conference.
The Cardinal did not look like a 12th-place team on Friday night.
Stanford went to the island to play Hawaii, a team which competed really well on Aug. 26 in its season opener versus Vanderbilt. Hawaii lost to Vanderbilt by only seven points and had the ball late in the game with a chance to tie. Based on that performance, Hawaii figured to at least push Stanford for 60 whole minutes.
Friday’s game did not unfold that way.
Stanford built a 21-10 halftime lead, a 27-10 advantage after three quarters, and a 37-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Hawaii scored a meaningless late touchdown (unless you had the over, of course) to make the final score 37-24 for Stanford. The win was easier than the 13-point margin suggested. The Trees stood tall and were always in control.
Stanford does face USC on September 9 in the Coliseum. When USC finishes Nevada and turns its attention to the Cardinal, tight end Benjamin Yurosek will demand the Trojans’ attention. Alex Grinch will need to find a way to contain Yurosek:
Not much to tweet from the Stanford Hawaii game so far except that Benjamin Yurosek is definitely gonna be a top 40 NFL Draft pick. pic.twitter.com/W9skGKKPkj
— Pac-12 Apostles Podcast (@Pac12Apostles) September 2, 2023
Check out our Pac-12 football predictions roundtable for the 2023 season.