Stanford football elects captains for game against NC State

The Cardinal will turn to Phillips, Ayomanor and Rose to be the guys who lead the charge this week.

Oct 5, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Elic Ayomanor (13) runs with the football against Virginia Tech Hokies cornerback Dorian Strong (44) and linebacker Sam Brumfield (3) during the third quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

To kick off November, the Stanford Cardinal (2-6, 1-4 ACC) will head to North Carolina, where a tough matchup against NC State awaits. Having lost five straight, the Cardinal will be hungry and motivated to get back into the win column and prove that they can still be competitive with anybody in a season that many are already writing off. 

Not naming season long captains this year, the Cardinal instead elected to do weekly captains with new ones being named prior to each game. This week, the Cardinal announced that wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, defensive end Tobin Phillips and linebacker Matt Rose will serve as the team’s captains against the Wolfpack.

Ayomanor, who leads the team in receiving, has caught 42 passes for 484 yards and four touchdowns, is coming off a week where he caught 11 passes for 96 yards in a loss to Wake Forest. The school’s record holder for most receiving yards in a game, recording 294 against Colorado last year, Ayomanor has developed into a solid NFL Draft prospect and has been continuing to ascend draft boards in 2024 with his strong campaign.

Phillips had his best game of the season, and possibly of his career, last week against Wake Forest, making six tackles and recording 2.5 sacks. A senior this year, Phillips has been a key veteran for the defense and has already matched his career high in sacks in only eight games.

Despite having a more limited role in a crowded linebacker room as a junior, Rose has stepped up when called upon, finishing last week having made three tackles and providing good depth behind Gaethan Bernadel and Tristan Sinclair. Now getting more chances to showcase what he can do, it will be interesting to see how Rose fares this week in a more prominent role.

The Cardinal will head to Raleigh early in order to get acclimated to the environment and get ready to play in an early kickoff game. All eyes will be on those three guys as they lead the team out into battle this Saturday. Kickoff will be at 9 a.m. (PT).