Warren starts, Prongos out for Stanford's opener
Tavita Pritchard makes his head-coaching debut with Davis Warren at quarterback and starting left tackle Niki Prongos sidelined, in a rematch of the Hawaii game that ended in an upset a year ago.
Pritchard's first game as coach is also Warren's first start
Tavita Pritchard's debut as Stanford's head coach comes on the field where he once played quarterback himself, and he is handing the offense to somebody new: Davis Warren, the Michigan transfer who started nine games for the Wolverines in 2024 before missing all of last season recovering from surgery on a torn knee ligament. Pritchard settled the job on Warren in camp over senior Dylan Rizk and freshman Michael Mitchell Jr., with Warren's command of the finer details of the position cited as the difference, according to ESPN.
QB1 🫡 t.co/8RbpPYeaaV
The program made it official the way these things get made official now — two words and an emoji, "QB1 🫡," posted to its own account two days before kickoff. It is the kind of post that looks like nothing until you remember it is the answer to the only real question this roster had all camp.
There is an extra layer under the debut, too. Hawaii won this exact fixture a year ago in Honolulu, its first road win over a power-conference program since 2019, so Pritchard's first game as coach is also Stanford's first crack at settling that score, per a wire report on his return to The Farm.
WAKE UP IT’S GAMEDAY 🗣️ 📍Stanford Stadium ⏰ 4p PT 📺 ACC Network 🎟️ t.co/s0jHSYQRDc 📻 t.co/McZKZFhlFu 📈 t.co/beoePS20y8
Last season closed on a four-game skid
Stanford finished last season the way it played most of the fall — outmatched. The 2025 team lost its final game at home to Notre Dame, 49-20, capping a stretch in which it dropped four of its last five, including a 42-7 blowout at Miami in late October and a 35-20 loss to Pittsburgh the following week.
The lone bright spot in that run was a 31-10 win over California in late November, which is also the last time the Cardinal actually won a football game. Everything from that 2025 log is officially history now — a new coach, a new starting quarterback and a new season all begin today with the record reset to 0-0.
Their best offensive lineman won't play the opener
Stanford will be without starting left tackle Niki Prongos for an undisclosed injury against Hawaii, according to Pete Thamel. Prongos, a redshirt senior, started all 12 games at left tackle last year — the only Stanford lineman to start every game at one spot — so his absence is a real hole in front of Warren in his first start under center.
Hawaii has its own opener scratch to worry about: leading receiver Pofele Ashlock is out with a knee injury, per Thamel. Ashlock made second-team All-Mountain West last season with 76 catches for 827 yards and eight touchdowns, so both offenses are opening the year down a piece they were built around.
An ACC opener against the national runner-up awaits next
Win or lose tonight, Stanford turns around fast: Miami comes to Stanford Stadium for a Friday night vs. Miami matchup that doubles as both teams' ACC opener. The spread opened with Miami favored by 24.5, which tells you plainly how the market views the gap between a team coming off a national title run and a Cardinal squad starting a brand-new coach and quarterback in the same week.
The total for that game opened at 48.5, a number that reads more low-scoring than shootout given the strength of Miami's defense. However tonight against Hawaii goes, that Friday matchup is the one that will say a lot more about where Pritchard's rebuild actually stands.