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Come Fan with UsFriday, August 7, 2026

Stanford’s formations are the extreme opposite of the spread offense

This is how the Cardinal have played for years, but for some reason, it seems like there’s extra beef on display against Washington.

SB Nation

Stanford is 5-1 and ranked No. 10 in the nation, and they’re playing football the way they want to with no regard for flash nor trends.

Just look at what they did against poor Washington.

Yes, that is eight linemen along the line of scrimmage.

We can only imagine defending such a play feels more like this:

So what happened in the play? Stanford ran up the middle and gained three yards. But they were tough, physical, grinding yards.

It should also be noted, that play was on a first down. Not a third-and-short when the Cardinal desperately needed to pick up a couple of yards to keep a drive alive, no, that was first down when they could have done anything they wanted. Stanford was just showing off.

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When Stanford is in a goal-line situation, this is what they can do:

Oh yes, they scored. That’s probably a near half-ton of backfield right there.

Here’s another highlight. The Huskies just start flying around off Stanford’s players. Pay attention to No. 51 Joshua Garnett toward the end of the clip.

Beautiful.

Somewhere in the Ozarks, Bret Bielema nods, grunts, and orders another steak.

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