Despite blowout loss to No. 9 Notre Dame, Stanford takes positives from 4-8 season

STANFORD Stanford s - loss to No Notre Dame on Saturday night served as a harsh reminder of just how far the Cardinal must climb to compete again with college football s elite But for the first time in years the season came to a close with something Stanford has long been seeking clear signs of progress The Cardinal ended the season at - their highest win total since and the plan s first year-over-year improvement since They reclaimed the Stanford Axe for the first time in five years posted a winning home record for the first time since and fielded a defense that produced its best statistical season in nearly a decade The year was hardly transformational But in an era defined by Stanford struggling to adapt to the new college football landscape it was at least a step Saturday s meeting at Stanford Stadium illustrated the Cardinal s reality Notre Dame - opened with straight points in an effort to make a strong closing report with the College Football Playoff selection committee and the Cardinal couldn t do anything about it The one time Stanford s defense got a stop the Fighting Irish scored on an -yard fake punt The loss dropped Stanford to - against teams in the College Football Playoff rankings a glaring measure of the gap separating the Cardinal from the nation s top tier Its defeats to BYU Virginia SMU Miami Pittsburgh and Notre Dame came by margins of and points But while the Irish controlled the finale Stanford s broader picture was far more encouraging Got the Axe back That s one thing That s not the only thing interim coach Frank Reich declared The heritage that the players set the chemistry the brotherhood in the locker room the way we practice We didn t get as a great number of wins as we wished but we made progress there too We got the largest part fundamental win of all and that was against Cal to get the Axe back So there are a lot more wins coming to this project Trust me on that The - win over Cal on Nov was Stanford s first Big Tournament success since It highlighted a season in which Stanford went - at home after posting a - record at Stanford Stadium from - Reich who was hired just before spring practice used the year to reset the lifestyle On Friday general manager Andrew Luck informed that former Stanford quarterback and assistant Tavita Pritchard the Washington Commanders quarterbacks coach will take over the operation right away after Washington s match Sunday night Reich reported he believes he is handing off a sturdier foundation than the one he inherited Much of that resurgence stemmed from improvement on defense The Cardinal allowed yards per challenge their best mark since and just rushing yards per encounter its lowest since Senior linebacker Matt Rose anchored the group throughout the year and again on Saturday finishing as the squad s leading tackler with nine stops His total tackles were the preponderance by a Stanford athlete in a season since Blake Martinez in Offensively Saturday belonged to senior tight end Sam Roush who capped his senior year with a team-high receiving yards on four catches His receiving yards were the the majority among tight ends in the ACC this season Roush commented that while his class did not experience the success earlier generations of Stanford players enjoyed this season felt like a meaningful turning point This year is the first step forward since I ve been here Roush announced Obviously not the success we requested when you look at the season as a whole but we fought and battled every championship We were able to win at home and we had a winning record at home which is huge when you re starting to build a plan Stanford s advancement came amid dramatic change After years of minimal activity in the transfer portal the venture welcomed transfers in after having only in all its previous seasons combined Related Articles Cal rides Sagapolutele s late-game magic to upset win over No SMU on an emotional night San Jose State finishes rough season with blowout loss to Fresno State Saturday Night Five Championship championship matchups CFP dispute the ACC s nightmare scenario and our Heisman forecast No Notre Dame rolls over Stanford - on its way to College Football Playoff Sagapolutele leads Cal to a - upset win over No SMU in final minute Still far more talent left The Farm than entered after last season Last year s starting quarterback Ashton Daniels is now the starter at Auburn while the Big championship Saturday will feature Stanford early enrollee Bear Bachmeier starting at QB for BYU against a Texas Tech defense led by former Cardinal linebacker David Bailey And then there was the schedule arguably the preponderance unconventional in the Power Four The Cardinal became the only FBS association to play in five time zones this season from Hawaii to the Eastern seaboard including road trips to Virginia Miami and North Carolina The scoreboard in Saturday s finale made clear that Stanford remains far from contending with top-ten teams But the broader context of the season suggests something else that for the first time in a long while the scheme is moving in the right direction As Reich watched his players walk off the field for the last time under his leadership he stated he felt confident handing the reins to Pritchard I know under Coach Luck and Coach Pritchard there will be amazing things ahead for this unit Reich disclosed