The fifth home game of the season begins Saturday afternoon as Stanford football hosts Wake Forest. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. PT on ACC Network. It's the first time these now-ACC rivals have met since 2010, when Wake Forest made the trek to Stanford in non-conference play. In that game, Stanford wore black uniforms for the first time in program history and trounced Wake Forest 68-24. Stanford lost the first meeting in 2009 on the road 24-17.

The Stanford defense forced three turnovers and had three sacks against SMU last Saturday night. It is the first time this season that the defense has recorded three turnovers and sacks in the same game and the first time this has occurred since the 2019 season opener against Northwestern.

This year’s Cardinal team is one of the most aggressive in the country. Stanford has gone for it on fourth down 24 times, trailing only Air Force (26). The 12 successful fourth-down conversions are tied for tenth-most in the country. The team’s ability to convert on fourth down has helped Stanford hold an average time of possession of 32:21, which ranks 17th in the nation and third in the ACC.

Young players have been making an impact for the Cardinal all season long. Freshman running back Micah Ford has the most rushing yards among running backs with 261 yards in his first six collegiate games. The top two receivers for Stanford are underclassmen, with Elic Ayomanor (R-So.) and Ismael Cisse (R-Fr.) combining for 55 receptions, 603 yards, and five touchdowns.

A theme of Stanford in wins under Coach Taylor has been the Card’s ability to stop the run. Stanford is allowing an average of just 36.4 rushing yards per game to opponents in wins since the start of the 2023 season, or 182 yards in five games.