2016 Sun Bowl: UNC-Stanford preview with Go Mighty Card

Stanford’s disappointing season

KIH: Talk about Stanford’s season and the hype going into it.  What happened this year?

GMC: Expectations were high after that Rose Bowl, but probably unrealistically so. Even though Christian McCaffrey and a large portion of the defense returned, the four-year starting quarterback and three offensive linemen left, and the offense struggled through the first half of the season.

Ryan Burns was the surprise winner of the quarterback competition, but he never really looked comfortable, and a switch was made after seven games. (It could be (and has been) argued that Burns suffered because those first seven games included the four best teams in the conference as well as a road game at Notre Dame, but such is a football life.)

By that point in the season, the offensive line had settled in a bit (there were a handful of changes forced by injury and performance), and the offense was suddenly more productive with new junior quarterback Keller Chryst at the controls.

Chryst was the one most observers and fans had expected to win the job initially, solely based on the hype we’ve been hearing about him since he was playing across the street from Stanford Stadium for Palo Alto High School. He’s brought more consistency to the offense, and he’s also a moderate running threat.

He’s 5-0 as a starter, but he still has something to prove. Overall, I’d say this season is only mildly disappointing.