Ulofoshio Warns Teammates of Quiet Stanford Game Setting
PALO ALTO, California — As he walks into Stanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Edefuan Ulofoshio will present himself as a University of Washington co-captain and starting linebacker, a dedicated pre-med student and a self-described expert on crowd noise who can offer some interesting parallels regarding the different venues he encounters.
In fact, when the Stanford faculty catches wind of his Oppenheimer comparison, it might not let him leave campus, rather it will hand him a full professorship and demand he teach a full class schedule.
Oppenheimer?
Earlier this week, the ever articulate and deep-thinking Ulofoshio was explaining how loud a sold-out Husky Stadium can get these days, to the point it's like an alternative universe. To make his point, he referenced the Hollywood film about the origins of the atomic bomb during World War II — and specifically the gap between detonation and destruction.
"Sometimes, it gets so loud it's deafening, it's like silence," the sixth-year senior said of his Montlake football stadium. "Did you watch Oppenheimer? Remember when they set it off and it was like super quiet for 20 seconds? That's what it feels like. Once you're tired and down, it's like whooosh and [the sound] like comes back."
However, a Saturday afternoon visit to Stanford Stadium will require no such run for cover to a bomb shelter or even pulling on a set of head phones or ear muffs to mute the noise. Quite the opposite.
The Cardinal football facility, which has been renovated multiple times, has gone from a raucous Super Bowl site that could seat up to 89,000 to a library-quiet facility that now has capacity for 50,000 fans but more often caters to two-thirds that attendance total.
Ulofoshio last played at Stanford in 2019, when a favored Huskies team coached by Chris Petersen lost 23-13, and the atmosphere was far from electric.
"From what I remember from that game, it was quiet," Ulofoshio said. "It was hard to get your energy up. It felt like I was on vacation."
The last time the Huskies played at Stanford was in 2021, when Ulofoshio was out for the season with a torn bicep injury. Then redshirt freshman Carson Bruener, Ulofoshio's replacement that day, was a self-starter who turned in a 16-tackle, a 1.5-sack and a forced-fumble performance that earned him a pair of conference honors, both Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week accolades.
With a new coach in Troy Taylor, the Cardinal (2-5 overall, 1-4 Pac-12), are in a rebuilding mode this season, which means interest and decibel levels have dwindled somewhat. In four previous home games, the Stanford football team played in front of crowds ranging from 23,848 for Sacramento State to 38,046 for Arizona, with attendance for outings against more high-profile opponents in UCLA and Oregon falling halfway between those numbers.
The Cardinal have learned how to cope with their staid surroundings, so much that the UW's well-traveled linebacker has advised his teammates about this possibility.
"That's what I try to tell these guys is you might as well not play music this week," Ulofoshio said. "You've got to bring your own energy, your own juice. They're used to it. They'll just come with the punch. You can't be flat against them because they'll really catch you at home."
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