# 2016 Stanford Cardinal football team

The 2016 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by sixth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place in the North Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated North Carolina.

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Stanford years | Alma mater |
| David Shaw | Head coach | 10th | Stanford (1994) |
| Lance Anderson | Defensive coordinator / outside linebackers coach | 10th | Idaho State (1996) |
| Mike Bloomgren | Associate head coach / offensive coordinator | 6th | Florida State (1999) |
| Pete Alamar | Special teams coordinator | 5th | Cal Lutheran (1983) |
| Duane Akina | Defensive backs coach | 3rd | Washington (1979) |
| Peter Hansen | Inside linebackers coach | 3rd | Arizona (2001) |
| Tavita Pritchard | Quarterbacks coach / wide receivers coach | 4th | Stanford (2009) |
| Diron Reynolds | Defensive linemen coach | 1st | Wake Forest (1994) |
| Lance Taylor | Running backs coach | 3rd | Alabama (2003) |
| Morgan Turner | Tight ends coach | 4th | Illinois (2009) |

### Roster
## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Kansas State* | No. 8 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | FS1 | W 26–13 | 46,147 |
| September 17 | 5:00 p.m. | USC | No. 7 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | ABC | W 27–10 | 48,763 |
| September 24 | 5:00 p.m. | at UCLA | No. 7 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | ABC | W 22–13 | 70,833 |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 10 Washington | No. 7 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | ESPN | L 6–44 | 72,027 |
| October 8 | 7:30 p.m. | Washington State | No. 15 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | ESPN | L 16–42 | 50,424 |
| October 15 | 4:30 p.m. | at Notre Dame* | | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (Legends Trophy) | NBC | W 17–10 | 80,795 |
| October 22 | 12:00 p.m. | Colorado | | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | P12N | L 5–10 | 44,535 |
| October 29 | 8:00 p.m. | at Arizona | | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | FS1 | W 34–10 | 46,740 |
| November 5 | 12:30 p.m. | Oregon State | | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | FS1 | W 26–15 | 38,813 |
| November 12 | 1:00 p.m. | at Oregon | | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | P12N | W 52–27 | 53,757 |
| November 19 | 2:30 p.m. | at California | No. 24 | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA (119th Big Game/Stanford Axe) | P12N | W 45–31 | 52,266 |
| November 26 | 5:00 p.m. | Rice* | No. 24 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | P12N | W 41–17 | 36,171 |
| December 30 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. North Carolina* | No. 18 | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX (Sun Bowl) | CBS | W 25–23 | 42,166 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| #8 Cardinal | 3 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 26 |

### USC

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Trojans | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| #7 Cardinal | 7 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 27 |

### At UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #7 Cardinal | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 22 |
| Bruins | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |

### At No. 10 Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #7 Cardinal | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| #10 Huskies | 13 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 44 |

### Washington State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| #15 Cardinal | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |

### At Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinal | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| Fighting Irish | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffaloes | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Cardinal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |

### At Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinal | 0 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 34 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |

### Oregon State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Beavers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Cardinal | 10 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 26 |

### At Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinal | 21 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 52 |
| Ducks | 6 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 27 |

### At California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinal | 7 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| Golden Bears | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |

### Rice

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| #17 Cardinal | 13 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 41 |

### Vs. North Carolina–Sun Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #16 Cardinal | 7 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 25 |
| Tar Heels | 7 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 23 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 15 | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | 17 | 16 | 12 |
| Coaches | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 15 | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 17 | 16 | 12 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | 24 | 24 | 18 | 18 | Not released |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL club |
| 1 | 3 | Solomon Thomas | DE | San Francisco 49ers |
| 1 | 8 | Christian McCaffrey | RB | Carolina Panthers |