Tavita Pritchard delivered one of the biggest upsets in college football history in his first career start at Stanford.
Pritchard, 39, begins a new chapter as head coach of his alma mater and the former quarterback has his sights on returning the Cardinal to glory, beginning with Saturday’s visit from Hawaii in the season opener for both teams.
Stanford was 41-point underdogs to No. 2 Southern California on Oct. 6, 2007 when Pritchard guided the visiting Cardinal to a stunning 24-23 victory. He tossed the winning 10-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradford on fourth down with 49 seconds left.
Later in his career, Pritchard lost his starting gig to Andrew Luck. After his playing career ended in 2009, he spent 13 seasons on the Stanford staff as an assistant coach.
Luck, now general manager of the program, hired Pritchard last November. The Cardinal (4-8 in 2025) have strung together five consecutive losing campaigns.
Pritchard will be counting on Michigan transfer quarterback Davis Warren. The sixth-year signal caller missed all of last season after tearing his right ACL in the ReliaQuest Bowl to end the 2024 season.
Warren started nine games for the Wolverines that season and passed for 1,199 yards and seven touchdowns. He was picked off nine times.
It has been nearly 20 months since Warren played in a game.
“I won’t be thinking too much about it on game day but it’s been a long journey,” Warren said. “Just excited to get out there with the guys and make the most of this opportunity.”
Pritchard is expecting top-flight results from Warren.
“He has displayed consistency,” Pritchard said. “His leadership has struck me since the day he stepped on campus. He immediately had the respect of our locker room.”
Defensively, star linebacker Matt Rose ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 106 tackles last season.
Hawaii (9-4 in 2025) defeated Stanford 23-20 in last season’s opener in Honolulu. It is the Rainbow Warriors’ lone win over the Cardinal in five all-time meetings.
The nine-win season was Hawaii’s best since it went 10-5 in 2019. The Rainbow Warriors won just 13 games in their first three seasons under school legend Timmy Chang before last season’s breakthrough season.
Chang formally signed a contract extension through the 2030 season earlier this week but his focus is on the Cardinal. Chang and Pritchard make up two of college football’s four FBS Polynesian head coaches.
“I think you prepare for everything, and then you adjust as it goes,” Chang said of the contest. “But really, football is football. We got to tackle, we got to throw the ball and catch balls.”
Hawaii has a solid quarterback in Micah Alejado, who passed for 3,106 yards and 24 touchdowns while throwing nine interceptions last season.
Alejado is looking for a cleaner start after the Cardinal scored the first 10 points a season ago.
“Last year, we came out really bad,” Alejado said. “I gave up a sack for a touchdown. We gave them 10 points. Our biggest point of emphasis is starting fast.”