2023 Football Season in Review

STANFORD, Calif. — The 2023 Stanford football season laid the building blocks for the future of the program. A new head coach, the final season in the Pac-12, and one of the youngest rosters in the NCAA all meant that 2023 was to be a transition year. Still, despite some growing pains, there was no doubt that this version of the Cardinal provided excitement and a look ahead to what the future will look like. Stanford Athletics takes a look at the 2023 season for Stanford football along with the highlights and accolades in the first season under Troy Taylor.
 
A NEW ERA BEGINS
The 2023 season for Stanford football began on December 10, 2022, with the hiring of Troy Taylor as the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. It didn’t take long for Taylor to get in the win column at Stanford, as the Cardinal opened the season on the road at Hawai’i and won its season opener 37-24 over the Rainbow Warriors, posting six sacks in a game for the first time since 2018.

 
There were several improvements by Stanford during Taylor’s first season on The Farm:

• The Stanford offense held onto the ball at a far greater rate under Taylor, ranking top-40 in the NCAA in time of possession (31:17).
• Stanford cut down its turnover margin by nine.
• Explosive plays were much more common, with twice as many 40+-yard passing plays as 2022, the most for the team since 2019.
• The Cardinal went 3-2 on the road, posting its first winning record away from The Farm in a non-COVID season since 2018.

COMEBACK AT COLORADO
The highlight of the season came after the team’s bye week, when the 1-4 Cardinal went on the road to take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder. Things looked bleak in the first half, where just about everything went wrong for Stanford. The Cardinal were down 29-0 at halftime and went to the locker room ice cold on a chilly night in the Rockies before coming out and setting the field ablaze.
 
The Cardinal scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half, making it a 29-26 deficit after a Justin Lamson touchdown run. Still, after the teams traded touchdowns, the Cardinal needed one final drive to tie the game. Starting at their own one yard line with 2:55 left in the game, Stanford was able to set Joshua Karty up with a game-tying field goal to send it to overtime at 36-36.
 
In overtime, Stanford matched a Colorado touchdown with a 30-yard strike to Elic Ayomanor, before getting a turnover in the end zone on Colorado’s second drive to…