The state of Stanford football's season following loss to Virginia Tech

Two straight losses have the Cardinal stumbling down in the ACC standings but with still seven games left, will Stanford righten the ship?

Oct 5, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies defensive lineman Josh Fuga (6) sacks Stanford Cardinal quarterback Justin Lamson (8) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

They played hard, but once again, the Stanford Cardinal (2-3, 1-2 ACC) were unable to come away with a win, falling to Virginia Tech by a score of 31-7 on Saturday afternoon. Now having played three conference games, the ACC playing field is starting to become clearer, with the top dogs emerging and the identity of each team now being much more established. 

Through five games and three conference matchups for Stanford, how does its outlook in the ACC change since losing two straight following its win over Syracuse? We take a look at where the Cardinal currently stand and how the rest of the conference stacks up.

At the start of the season, the Cardinal were projected to finish last in the new-look ACC, as three straight 3-9 seasons combined with a rebuilding roster in a tough conference usually means struggle for a team in Stanford’s position. But after beating Syracuse in week four, the Cardinal were able to avoid an 0-3 start to conference play and because of that, they currently sit in 13th in the conference. Five teams still remain undefeated in ACC play, with Clemson (4-1, 3-0 ACC), Miami (6-0, 2-0 ACC), SMU (5-1, 2-0 ACC), Virginia (4-1, 2-0 ACC) and Pittsburgh (5-0, 1-0 ACC) sitting atop the standings so far.

Behind Stanford is Florida State (1-5, 1-4 ACC), California (2-3, 0-2 ACC), UNC (3-3, 0-2 ACC) and NC State (3-3, 0-2 ACC). The Seminoles are arguably the most surprising as they are just one season removed from finishing the regular season 12-0, winning the ACC championship and making an Orange Bowl appearance.

Stanford still has seven games left to play, with five of them being conference games. While two of those seven games are against non-conference opponents, with its next game being against No. 11 Notre Dame and its final game of the season being against San Jose State, both of those games are on the road. Playing Notre Dame on the road could very well be one of the harder games that the Cardinal will play all season. That means that its conference games against SMU, Wake Forest, NC State, Louisville and Cal will mean that much more.

SMU, who is currently ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll could very well be a very similar game to Virginia Tech in terms of the type of team that the Cardinal will face, in that the Mustangs have a very high octane offense, having scored over 30 points in four out of their first six games. Aside from a close 18-15 loss to No. 14 ranked BYU, the Mustangs have been dominant, beating teams such as Louisville, TCU and Florida State. While certainly winnable, the Cardinal most likely will not be favored in that game.

After that game, the Cardinal will return home to face a Wake Forest team that is currently half-game up on them right now, having the same overall record at 2-3 with one less conference game played. While also a good team, Wake and Stanford match up evenly. This could be the type of game that the Cardinal should be able to pull out if they play how they did against Syracuse. NC State, whose two conference losses so far are to Clemson and Wake Forest, will host the Cardinal in week 10 and will figure to be another tough challenge for the Cardinal. 

The Cardinal’s conference slate then concludes with a home matchup against a struggling Louisville team followed by the Big Game against Cal on the road, an opponent that the Cardinal are very familiar with and have immense historical success against.  Following the Big Game, Stanford concludes its season against Mountain West members San Jose State in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game, most likely heading into the contest as the betting favorites. 

Stanford has experienced ups and downs of all types this season, but for a team projected to finish where it was, it has shown a lot of promise and reason for hope. If the team is able to pick up some more wins before the end of the season, they have a chance to really shock people.