Tweets by @StanfordSports

Instant recap... more to come: https://t.co/2ej4J7xXLV: 9 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Huge weekend for @GoStanford: @StanfordMSoccer in Sunday's final, & the Heisman tmrw. On @CMccaffrey5's NY arrival: https://t.co/nQWEdZAxfx: 10 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Crazy, but true: Today marked the first time in College Cup history that both semifinals have been scoreless at the end of regulation.: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
RT @alexaphilippou: "I can walk you through what I remember." -Epstein when asked to walk media through ups and downs of PKs: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
RT @DougDrabik: When you make the game-winning save to send your team to the College Cup Final... #GoStanford https://t.co/suvauOidx0: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
RT @alexaphilippou: Un-be-lievable. https://t.co/z3Mts9ZsXG: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Stanford will take on Clemson this Sunday at 11am PT.: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Mis-tweet before: Stanford is playing in its first NATIONAL TITLE game since 2002: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Final penalty kick score: 8-7.: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports
Stanford is headed to its first College Cup since 2002. All Right Now is playing in Sporting Park!: 12 hours ago, StanfordDaily Sports

Quick hits: A preview of Stanford vs. UC-Davis through numbers

Jordan Wallach

Senior Staff Writer

By: Jordan Wallach | Senior Staff Writer

3: At the start of the 1978 season, NCAA Division I football was split into Division I-A (currently known as the Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS) and I-AA (currently known as the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS). Since then, only three FBS teams, of those that have played at the higher level for all 36 seasons in their existence, have played fewer games against FCS opponents than the Stanford Cardinal.

The Cardinal have played just three games against FCS opponents: against Cornell in 1991, UC-Davis in 2005 and Sacramento State in 2010. Three teams in Division I-A have never played a game against an FCS opponent: Notre Dame, USC and UCLA.

Ty Montgomery (left) and the Cardinal hope to extend the nation's second-longest home winning streak with a victory over UC Davis on Saturday. (TRI NGUYEN/The Stanford Daily)

Ty Montgomery (left) and the Cardinal hope to extend the nation’s second-longest home winning streak with a victory over UC Davis on Saturday. (TRI NGUYEN/The Stanford Daily)

The strength of Stanford’s schedule was a point of emphasis in the last few years of the Bowl Championship Series era, as well as during this offseason, as head coach David Shaw criticized the SEC’s eight-game conference schedule in the Pac-12’s spring teleconference. But this year, a Division I-AA opponent will be one of the Cardinal’s three non-conference opponents for the first time in nine seasons.

The last time these teams met, on Sept. 17, 2005, the Aggies stunned the Cardinal in their home debut, as a three-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the game secured a 20-17 victory for UC-Davis. Stanford owned a 17-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter, but surrendered 20 unanswered points in the defeat.

It was the team’s first loss in a 5-6 season in which Stanford lost five of its six games at home, which brings us to…

16: The Cardinal have won 16 consecutive home games dating back to the 2011 season, with their last loss at Stanford Stadium coming on Nov. 12, 2011 against Oregon. It’s the second-longest active streak in the country, trailing only South Carolina’s 18-game home winning streak, and over that stretch, Stanford has outscored its opponents 529-330 (+199).

Over the past four seasons, Stanford is 26-1 at home, including an 11-1 mark against ranked opponents. It’s safe to say The Farm has become more of a fortress for the Cardinal of late, and their defensive front has been one reason why…

71: In Stanford’s seven home games in 2013, their opponents combined to rush for just 497 yards, or 71 per game. But in the team’s other seven games, their opponents combined for 754 yards on the ground, or 108 per game.

This season, the Cardinal defense hopes to continue winning battles at the line of scrimmage, both at home and on the road, with three experienced defensive linemen returning. Fifth-year seniors Henry Anderson, David Parry and Blake Lueders will start for Stanford up front on Saturday afternoon.

Another key veteran who will start for Stanford in the team’s opener is senior receiver Ty Montgomery, who was just cleared by doctors this week after undergoing shoulder surgery in February. He won’t just make an impact as a wideout, but also on special teams…

30.3: Montgomery averaged 30.3 yards per kickoff return last season, which ranked second in the country behind Kermit Whitfield’s 36.4-yard average for Florida State. The Dallas, Texas native proved to be an explosive playmaker for the Cardinal in 2013, not only affecting his offense’s starting field position but also taking it to the house twice.

Montgomery developed a strong rapport with current senior quarterback Kevin Hogan as well, leading the Cardinal in receptions in 13 of the team’s 14 games. The USA Today preseason All-American finished the season with 61 catches for 958 yards (15.7 average yards per catch).

Contact Jordan Wallach at jwallach ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Tagged with:

About Jordan Wallach

Jordan Wallach is a Senior Staff Writer at The Stanford Daily. He was previously the Managing Editor of Sports, a sports desk editor for two volumes and he continues to work as a beat writer for Stanford's baseball, football and women's volleyball teams. Jordan is a junior from New York City majoring in Mathematical and Computational Science. To contact him, please send him an email at jwallach 'at' stanford.edu.
  • MrJulius

    You forgot other numbers: 2 and 0. Two (2) are the number of top running backs hurt for Davis, including their top (only?) offensive weapon, Gabe Manazanares. Zero (0) ia the number of quarterbacks with real time experience at the DI level. Ben Scott hasn’t taken a college snap, Turner Baty spent 3 years bouncing between SFCC and Kansas, and London Lacy never played last year. Expect a blowout.

  • Luke

    As of this evening, we have the longest active home winning streak in the country. Thanks, Carolina!

  • RC

    The difference between Division I (A and AA) and Division II is the presence of scholarships, which allow schools to recruit highly sought after student-athletes. UC Davis was still in the middle of its transition from Division II to Division I-AA in 2005. That means most of their starting players on their team were non-scholarship, recruited before Davis made their jump up. Pretty impressive that Davis won, considering Stanford still went on to a 5-6 record that year. Had they secured the win vs Davis and eked out and not lost a close one to UCLA, they’ve probably gone to a bowl game that year.

    Also, for future publications, it’s UC Davis without the hyphen (not UC-Davis).

    Go Ags!

© 2015 THE STANFORD DAILY