Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 OCT. 3, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD BY JACK SOBLE O n Sept. 19 in Durham, N.C., fans saw the difference be- tween a program that is thriv- ing despite limited resources and a program that is not. The former was Duke, which has been raked over the coals in the past three sea- sons. First it lost its upstart head coach, Mike Elko, to Texas A&M. Then it lost its dynamic quarterback, Riley Leonard, to Notre Dame. New head coach Manny Diaz somehow managed to win the At- lantic Coast Conference only two years later, led by elite QB-WR duo Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate … who left for Miami on the final day of the transfer portal window in January, giving the Blue Devils no chance to replace them. Mensah and Barkate's exits are likely why Duke's estimated payroll, accord- ing to The Athletic, is the second-lowest in the Power Four, ahead of only Boston College, at $12 million to $15 million. And yet, you wouldn't know it if you watched the Blue Devils dominate Stanford and its estimated $16-20 million payroll on a sunny September afternoon. The Blue Devils beat the Cardinal 35- 7, and it was exactly as bad as the score indicated. Duke began the game with a surprise onside kick, which its kicker recovered. Diaz's group outgained Stanford 470-237, controlling time of possession and winning both pass ef- ficiency (8.4-4.6 yards per attempt) and rush efficiency (5.7-3.3 yards per carry). When first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard left Wallace Wade Stadium, he and his team fell to 0-2 with a com- bined scoring margin of 80-13 against ACC competition. "There's a reason this program won the conference championship game a year ago," Pritchard said after the game. "And at the same point in time, we did not play a good game and we missed the mark. And that starts with me. That starts with me." It looks like another long year in Palo Alto, Calif., and the days of Andrew Luck seem like a distant memory. As it happens, it's Luck's job to bring the Cardinal back. Incidentally, Luck's last NFL season (2018) coincided with Stanford's last trip to a bowl game. Now the program's HERE WE GO AGAIN Far removed from the early 2010s, Stanford has an uphill battle to avoid a sixth-straight losing season Following a season-opening 37-27 win over Hawaii, first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard's Cardinal were outscored 80-13 while opening the season 0-2 against ACC competition. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD ATHLETICS