Stanford ready to attack bye week to fix issues that led to 45-6 loss to No. 7 Miami

STANFORD – Stanford sixth-year quarterback Davis Warren calls the bye week the “get better week.”

There will be plenty for the Cardinal to work on improving after Friday’s 45-6 loss to No. 7 Miami.

The offense couldn’t find the end zone while the defense allowed touchdowns on six of Miami’s seven possessions before the Hurricanes pulled their starters in their first-ever appearance at Stanford Stadium.

But after playing two games before most college football teams had even started their season – including the Week 0 win over Hawaii – Stanford (1-1, 0-1 ACC) now has two weeks to regroup before visiting Duke on Sept. 19.

“We all got to go home, look in the mirror and say what could I have done better tonight?” first-year coach Tavita Pritchard said. “And I have plenty I could have done better and I know I’m learning and growing as a coach. Our staff is going to do that, our players are going to do that. So much about these next couple of weeks are how much better can we get as quickly as we can do it?”

Fortunately for the Cardinal, the next few opponents should not pose as big a challenge as Miami (1-0, 1-0), which made the CFP championship game last season and then brought in Duke transfer Darian Mensah.

Duke won the ACC last year but lost Mensah, which led the conference in passing yards and touchdown passes. Then comes Georgia Tech, which scored just six points on offense in its opener against Colorado, and Wake Forest, which was picked to finish 13th in the preseason ACC media poll.

None of those opponents appear to feature weapons like Mensah, who completed 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and five TDs in his Miami debut, and sophomore Malachi Toney, who set a Miami record with 234 receiving yards. Toney caught 12 passes on 13 targets and scored three touchdowns.

On Miami’s first drive, Toney spun safety Darrius Davis around in coverage for a 47-yard catch on the first snap, and then ran right past cornerback Leroy Bright for a 23-yard touchdown.

Stanford tried to adjust after struggling to defend Toney man-to-man by going to a Cover 2 in the third quarter. But when Miami sent Toney down the middle of the field, neither Stanford safety picked him up. Toney blew past linebacker Sam Mattingly and caught Mensah’s pass for a 47-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 42-6.

Stanford’s offense stalled because of drops and penalties. JonAnthony Hall dropped a pass on third down that should have extended the Cardinal’s first drive, and two potential touchdown passes from Davis Warren were dropped in the end zone.

A makeshift line that was missing three projected starters was also called for a handful of holding penalties and false starts.

“We beat ourselves in a lot of ways tonight,” said Warren, who completed 21 of 41 passes for 214 yards. “You cannot do that against a good football team. It’s just a situation where it’s hard to live in second-and-15, second-and-20. That’s difficult. And then drops, those things happen. Some of those I can probably put the ball in a better spot for those guys. I’m sure knowing those receivers, they’re going to take responsibility for it too and know they got to be better.”

Still, the Cardinal allowed just one sack for the second straight week, and the team began the season with back-to-back games without a turnover for the first time since 2017.

While the Miami game showed how much work needs to be done in order to compete with a Top 10 team, the next month will be a good indicator of whether Stanford is able to break through the four-win barrier for the first time since 2018.

“I know we’ll watch the tape and it’s just a really good opportunity for us to learn and to understand the things that we can do better and to get, you know, two weeks to work on it is huge,” Warren said. “So I think it’s going to be great for this offense. We’re going to come out the other side and be better for it and we’ll look back on this as a really good learning opportunity and one that is going to propel us into this next part of the year.”