Stanford football begins their 2023 season this week, which means it is time for me to write my breakdown of their 2023 schedule. Let’s dive in!
GoStanford.com: 2023 Stanford Football Schedule
The Cardinal will open things on Friday, September 1st at Hawaii. Kickoff is set for 8:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network and KNBR 1050 AM. The Rainbow Warriors are coming off a 3-10 season in which their only wins were against Duquesne, Nevada, and UNLV. In their regular season opener this past weekend at Vanderbilt, they fell by a touchdown (35-28), so they made progress from their 63-10 home opener against Vanderbilt last year.
The Warriors like to go for it on 4th down a lot, converting three of four 4th down attempts against Vanderbilt, so the Cardinal defense better be ready for the Warriors to be aggressive. When looking at the schedule, this is one of the few games where Stanford will likely be favored. If they don’t win this one, let’s just say they’ll really have their work cut out for them.
Following the game against Hawaii, Stanford will stay on the road to face #6 USC on Saturday, September 9th. Kickoff is 7:30 PM PT on FOX & KNBR 1050. USC is a national championship contender this year and with it being the final Stanford/USC game of the Pac-12 era, it will be an emotional game for both teams. On top of it being an emotional game, USC will be heavily favored. If Stanford can even make this game interesting, that would be really encouraging. And then if they win, they’ll shock the world.
After facing USC, Stanford will have their home opener on Saturday, September 16th against Sacramento State. Kickoff is 5:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area & KNBR 1050. This will be an emotional game for head coach Troy Taylor as he’ll be facing his old team. The interesting part of this game will be the fact that both teams know each other really well. Taylor knows Sacramento State’s personnel really well while Sacramento State knows Taylor’s scheme really well. The Hornets were excellent last year, so this is a game that on paper could be a trap game for the Cardinal.
After facing Sacramento State, Stanford will remain at home to face Arizona on Saturday, September 23rd. Kickoff time is TBD. KNBR Radio will carry the game. Arizona went 5-7 overall last year and 3-6 in the Pac-12. Arizona will likely be favored in this game, but on paper this is a game that Stanford should have good odds to win. Especially with it being at home. If Stanford wins this game, they’ll be sending a bit of a message to the rest of the conference that they’re more capable than many think.
Following their home game against Arizona, Stanford will stay at home one more week to face #15 Oregon on Saturday, September 30th. Kickoff time is TBD. KNBR Radio will carry the game. The Ducks are coming off a season in which they went 10-3 overall and 7-2 in the Pac-12, so they’re contenders to win the Pac-12 title this year. Last time they were on The Farm, the Ducks lost to the Cardinal, so that’s going to be something on the back of their minds.
After three straight weeks at home, the Cardinal will then have a bye week, which means no game the weekend of October 7th. Touching quickly on the timing of the bye week, I think this is a good time for Stanford to have it. It’s nice to have a bye week in the middle of your season and it will also mean a fourth straight week at home. Not a bad stretch just from a travel perspective.
After their bye week, Stanford will hit the road to face Colorado on Friday, October 13th. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM PT on ESPN and KNBR Radio. This is year one of the “Coach Prime” era of Colorado football and it might be the only time the Cardinal face the Buffs in this era as the Pac-12 is in its final season of existence. Given that Colorado is coming off a season in which they won one game all season, this is a game that could go either way. The Buffaloes will likely be favored, but don’t be shocked if the Cardinal come in and spoil the party.
Stanford will then come back home to face UCLA on Saturday, October 21st for homecoming. Kickoff time is TBD. KNBR Radio will carry the game. UCLA went 9-4 overall last year and 6-3 in the Pac-12, defeating Stanford 38-13 last year. This is going to be a tough game for the Cardinal, but fortunately it’ll be homecoming for them. Maybe that homecoming energy along with them being more settled in will make a difference.
Stanford once again will be at home the following weekend as they’ll welcome #10 Washington to The Farm on Saturday, October 28th. Kickoff time is TBD. KNRB Radio will carry the game. Washington went 11-2 overall last year and 7-2 in the Pac-12, so they’re obviously deserving of their ranking. Washington will be heavily favored in this game, but Stanford being at home will have an opportunity if they are healthy.
Stanford will hit the road for two straight weeks with games at Washington State on Saturday, November 4th and at Oregon State on Saturday, November 11th. Kickoff times are TBD for both games. KNBR Radio will carry both games.
Washington State went 7-6 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12 last year while Oregon State went 10-3 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12. Both of those games will be tough. Oregon State is considered a dark horse to win the Pac-12 championship and with the way they’ve been left in the dust regarding conference realignment, one can’t help but root for them. The same with Washington State, but they’re not considered dark horses like Oregon State is. If Stanford could win either of these games, that would be huge.
Stanford will then close out the season with two straight home games against Cal on Saturday, November 18th and #13 Notre Dame on Sunday, November 25th. Kickoff times TBD. KNBR Radio will carry both games.
Starting with Big Game against Cal, Stanford will look to reclaim the Axe for the first time since 2020. With it being a home game, that will give Stanford a bit of an advantage. The real storyline here will be the fact that Troy Taylor played at Cal, which just adds an interesting layer to the rivalry. Cal is coming off a season in which they went 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Pac-12. They weren’t very good last year. Stanford should have good odds to win this game, but we of course have to see where things are at injury-wise before making any predictions. This is a toss-up at the moment.
As for Notre Dame, Stanford shocked the Irish last year in South Bend. While not their most important rivalry game, the Notre Dame game is still a rivalry game with a trophy on the line. The Irish will be eager to reclaim the Legends Trophy after what happened last year. Win or lose, this should be an exciting and fun game to end the season.
Overall, this is a good slate of games to start the Troy Taylor era on The Farm. On top of having quality competition, having seven home games is nice as is having an October bye week. While many people are expecting Stanford to be horrible this year, this schedule does have some openings for them to win a few games and surpass expectations. It’ll be fun to see how things unfold and how this week’s game at Hawaii goes.
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