When Oregon State transfer Ben Gulbranson was named the starting QB to begin the year, you could point to his experience being a huge positive on his ledger, especially with interim coach Frank Reich's new offense. Having someone with a number of reps under center to begin the season made sense.

Stanford’s defense made some nice plays, including on Hawaii’s first offensive play, when Patterson strip-sacked Alejado, with Wilfredo Aybar recovering the loose ball in the end zone, which gave Stanford a 10-0 lead after the extra point.