{"id":391525,"date":"2026-09-05T17:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/391525\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T17:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:22:14","slug":"stanford-crushed-by-miami-as-flaws-exposed-entering-bye-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/391525\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford crushed by Miami as flaws exposed entering bye week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanford\u2019s<\/a> task against the defending national runner-up would have been daunting enough Friday night under the best of circumstances for first-year coach Tavita Pritchard<\/a> and Co. But the ideal scenario was yanked from the table well before kickoff when five starters, including three on the offensive line, were deemed unable to play because of injury.<\/p>\n

At that point, the likelihood of an upset dropped to well below zero.<\/p>\n

Then came kickoff, and the situation took a turn for the gruesome: The 45-6 beatdown by seventh-ranked Miami entered the books as Stanford\u2019s worst home loss in five years. (There have been some bad ones.)<\/p>\n

The offense was inept and the defense utterly helpless. Miami receiver Malachi Toney made Stanford\u2019s defensive backs look like junior college players with 12 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n

All in all, the Cardinal struggled to cover, tackle, block and catch \u2014 and that was just in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t quite put my finger on what exactly it was, why we didn\u2019t play well enough early on,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cI just know missing the mark early didn\u2019t change the complexion of the game, but it was a big part of the reason the game continued to go the way it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

So lopsided was the matchup that we are left with few conclusions to draw.<\/p>\n

In that regard, the performance is perhaps best viewed in tandem with the Cardinal\u2019s Week 0 victory over Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Granted, Miami is closer to the top of the sport than the Rainbow Warriors are to the bottom, but the two opponents provide reasonable bookends to assess Stanford\u2019s trajectory with 17 percent of the season complete.<\/p>\n

The odds of improvement in Pritchard\u2019s first season \u2014 not substantial improvement, just incremental improvement \u2014 seem awfully long.<\/p>\n

In the past five years, Stanford has posted records of 3-9, 3-9, 3-9, 3-9 and 4-8. It\u2019s arguably the worst five-year stretch since the early 1960s, even more hapless than the string of losing seasons that were unfolding when Pritchard first set foot on campus as a freshman quarterback in 2006.<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes will demolish plenty of opponents this season, both inside and outside the ACC. The larger problem for Stanford is that with Hawaii in the rearview mirror, the schedule offers exactly one opportunity to face a team with lesser personnel: Elon\u2019s visit in mid-October.<\/p>\n

The other nine remaining opponents have more talent than Stanford or substantially more talent, and five of those nine games will be played on the other side of the country.<\/p>\n

All of which leads to the conclusion that Stanford will be hard pressed to better its 2025 performance, when it won four games under interim coach Frank Reich.<\/p>\n

If the injuries continue to mount, this season could begin to resemble the fall of 2024, the last year of the Troy Taylor era, when Stanford beat two major college teams and Cal Poly.<\/p>\n

The first of the cross-country trips, to Duke, comes in two weeks. Before that, the Cardinal has a bye to recover and retrench following a wipeout that was easy to see coming and somehow worse than imagined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get better, and that\u2019s the space this team will continue to live in,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cI\u2019m learning and growing as a coach. Our staff is going to do that. Our players are going to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much about these next couple weeks is about how much better can we get as quickly as we can do it. That\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be about for us, just improving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s timeframe might be a tad short, but the opportunity is limitless.<\/p>\n

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com<\/a> or call 408-920-5716<\/p>\n

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