Stanford releases 2014 football schedule

The Pac-12 released Stanford football’s full 2014 schedule on Wednesday afternoon, featuring nine conference matchups and six home games. As was the case in 2012, Stanford will have three consecutive home games to open the season before most of the student body arrives on campus for the new school year.

The Cardinal will open the season against UC-Davis in place of the annual Bill Walsh Legacy Game against San Jose State, which was discontinued after the schools’ athletic departments failed to reach an agreement.

Stanford will then host its annual rivalry game against a new-look USC team looking to make a resurgence in the Pac-12 after the hiring of new head coach Steve Sarkisian and win at Stanford Stadium for the first time since 2008. The Cardinal will end its homestand with a non-conference game against Army before a bye week that will coincide with the arrival of most students on campus.

Back-to-back road trips to Seattle to face Washington and South Bend to battle Notre Dame will serve as a stiff early-season test given the Cardinal’s road woes in 2013, the hostile environment of Husky Stadium and the return of quarterback Everett Golson to the helm of the Fighting Irish offense. Stanford will be looking to avenge its losses to Washington and Notre Dame in its previous road games against the two teams.

A Friday night home game against a resurgent Washington State team is followed by perhaps the toughest stretch of the season: a rematch of the 2013 Pac-12 Championship Game in Tempe against Arizona State, a home matchup with an experienced quarterback in Sean Mannion and Oregon State and, of course, the annual matchup against fellow Pac-12 North powerhouse Oregon.

As has been the case in the last few years, the contest between the Ducks and Cardinal has the potential to be the de facto Pac-12 North championship game. With quarterback Marcus Mariota and cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu both returning to the Ducks for another season, the Cardinal will face the toughest challenge of its season at Autzen Stadium.

After another bye week, the Cardinal hopes to avenge last season’s heartbreaking loss to Utah when it hosts the Utes at home before it travels across the Bay for the 117th Big Game, facing a Cal team that is looking to bounce back from one of the worst seasons in recent memory.

For the second time in three seasons, Stanford will wrap up its regular season at the Rose Bowl Stadium against UCLA. The Bruins, led by returning quarterback Brett Hundley, will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak against the Cardinal in another unusual Friday night game.

If the Cardinal can win its third consecutive Pac-12 North crown, it will play in its third Friday night game of the 2014 season in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 5.

Full schedule:

Aug. 30 – UC-Davis
Sept. 6 – USC
Sept. 13 – Army
Sept. 20 – BYE
Sept. 27 – at Washington (Seattle)
Oct. 4 – at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.)
Oct. 10 (Fri.) – Washington State
Oct. 18 – at Arizona State (Tempe, Ariz.)
Oct. 25 – Oregon State
Nov. 1 – at Oregon (Eugene, Ore.)
Nov. 8 – BYE
Nov. 15 – Utah
Nov. 22 – at California (Berkeley)
Nov. 28 (Fri.) – at UCLA (Pasadena, Calif.)

Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.