Davis Warren Within Striking Distance of Stanford's First 3,000-Yard Season Since 2018

At 4-4 with four games to play, Stanford football has taken steps forward this season, already matching its win total from 2025. From 2021-24 the Cardinal went just 3-9 each season, so getting to this point has been a slow climb, but in head coach Tavita Pritchard's first season leading the way, the future is looking brighter and the program's first bowl game since the 2018 Sun Bowl is a real possibility.

The Cardinal offense has been a big reason for this turnaround, beginning with quarterback Davis Warren. Even after a lopsided 45-6 loss to Miami in Week 1, you could see the level of play increasing under center compared to previous seasons. 

Warren has been able to make tough passes, remain accurate, and limit turnovers all season. Following Friday night's 31-28 win over NC State, Warren is 163-271 passing, good for a 60.1% completion percentage, notching 1,933 yards along with 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Heading into Saturday's games, only 16 qualified QBs in the nation had allowed two or fewer interceptions. 

Warren also ranks eighth in passing yards, though he has played eight games, while most of the quarterbacks surrounding him on the leaderboard have played seven. Where he ranks on Sunday will be interesting to see. 

With those 1,933 passing yards, Warren is well within range of a 3,000-yard season through the air. With four games to play, he'd need to average 267 yards per game to hit that mark, and he has put together three 300-yard games this season. The downside here is that those have all come in Cardinal wins, which have all come at home on The Farm. 

On the road, Warren has struggled a bit more, averaging 143.67 yards per game. At the same time, those road games have been against the reigning ACC champion Duke Blue Devils, and then No. 17 Wake Forest and No. 4 Notre Dame. So how much of those struggles have been because the Cardinal have been on the road, and how much comes from facing elite competition? 

Three of Stanford's remaining four games are on the road, with trips to Louisville, Virginia Tech, and Cal in the coming weeks. We should get an answer to that question about road struggles in this stretch. 

While reaching the 3,000-yard mark is not guaranteed for Warren, being in that vicinity has been rare for Cardinal QBs in recent years. In fact, the last time a Stanford quarterback reached 3,000 yards was in 2018 when KJ Costello threw for 3,540 yards with 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. 

The 2018 season was also Pritchard's first as the program's offensive coordinator. 

Tanner McKee came close in 2022, but finished with 2,947 yards on the season while producing a less efficient 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. 

The past two seasons, Stanford's leading passers haven't even eclipsed 2,000 yards. Ashton Daniels finished with 1,700 in 2024 while the team racked up 2,295 yards total with Justin Lamson and Elijah Brown also getting some time under center. 

In 2025, Ben Gulbranson finished with 1,813 yards, with Brown adding 829 and Charlie Mirer's one drive to end the season netting him 22 yards, for a total of 2,664 for the program. 

Having that one guy under center in Warren has provided some stability for Stanford at the most important position on the field, and we're seeing the program take a step forward under his leadership.