Three Areas of Improvement for Stanford Football

College football season is officially here. Starting this week, the Stanford Cardinal will open training camp and begin preparing for a long and grueling 2025 season. Starting their season a week earlier than usual, the Cardinal will look ahead to Week Zero and preparing for a road game in Hawaii. The mission for this season is to improve drastically and show that they are much better than last season's 3-9 record.

But if the Cardinal want to show that they are ready to compete in a tough ACC, they must get better in many areas. Having largely a new-look roster going into the new campaign, the Cardinal have a lot more questions than answers but are confident that they can re-establish their identity rather quickly. Here are three areas that the Cardinal need to improve in order to see any sort of success in 2025.

Offensive line

Over the past few seasons, aside from a strong two seasons from Elic Ayomanor, the Cardinal struggled to really figure out who their star on offense was, with inconsistent quarterback play and a run game that hadn't had a 1,000 yard runner for years. The past two seasons, the Cardinal rushing attack has been led by their quarterbacks.

Bryce Love ran for 2,118 yards back in 2017, and that's the last time a Stanford running back crossed the 1,000 yard threshold.

And while on the surface that is a major issue, a large reason for that could be attributed to the struggles from the offensive line--particularly run blocking. Ranked in the bottom five of college football in run blocking for 2024, the Cardinal struggled to contain opposing defenses from coming through, creating issues with moving the ball.

Interim head coach Frank Reich is an offensive guru and if the offensive line is able to tighten up a bit this season, the offense could see itself reach new heights.

Running backs

On paper, the running back room at Stanford is arguably its biggest strength this season, with multiple guys in Micah Ford, Chris Davis Jr. and Sedrick Irvin capable of being the workhorse and each showing just how talented they are.

Reich's offense is well-balanced when it comes to utilizing the run and the pass, and the run game will have to be on point for his offense to run smoothly. Figuring out who will be the program's main back will be of utmost importance for him in the early going.

A strong season on the ground not only opens up the offense more, but takes some of the burden off of the quarterback, which could make things easier this season for Stanford.

Pass defense

Last season, the defense showed flashes of brilliance, with good late game defense being a key reason why the Cardinal were able to pull off upsets over Syracuse and Louisville.

But overall, Stanford's defense struggled mightily last season--especially when it came to defending the pass. Ranked at No. 116 for total defense, the Cardinal were ranked especially low as a pass defending unit, allowing an average of about 280 yards per game, with many offenses playing their best games against Stanford.

The ACC is filled with offensive powerhouses and good quarterback play, making defense very important in this conference. Competing in the ACC will not be easy, but a good defensive team can make things much more interesting.