Fans had high hopes for the Cardinals this season after firing Troy Taylor in March. But this is not what the successor Frank Reich hoped for. After making multiple stops at different NFL destinations, Reich has been here for a short while with the Stanford Cardinals. However, in this short while, he failed to gift Stanford fans a win as Hawaii Rainbow Warriors rallied for a late yet thrilling win to open their 2025 season on Saturday. Timmy Chang’s boys got by Reich’s Stanford in a 23-20 heroic feat. No matter how neck-to-neck the competition has been, Chang had something to say to Reich’s squad in the post-game presser.

On August 23, the Hawaii head coach faced the media. No taunting tone, no leg pulling. Pure respect, as Chang continued, “I really just tip my hat off to our guys, but Stanford’s a great team as well, and they’re going to find a way, but they’re they’re going to be a good team and they’re headed in the right direction.” Now, that’s what you call healthy rivalry. Maybe that’s what propelled the Rainbow Warriors to a turnaround in the Saturday game. 

After all, they were trailing as Reich’s boys took a 10-0 lead in an unfortunate two-play sequence midway through the first quarter. Hawaii (1-0) overcame a poor start to beat Stanford (0-1) for the first time in their five meetings. The final nail in the coffin was when kicker Kansei Matsuzawa came with a 38-yard field goal as time expired. Now, that’s what you call a dramatic twist, as before the field goal, the game was tied with just over two minutes left to go.

While Reich was yet to know about their eventual nose-dive, the Cardinals got flagged because of poor conduct. The courtesy? Their defensive lineman, Clay Patterson. He was spotted doing an Aura Farming dance step after strip-sacking Micah Alejado in the end zone in the first quarter. And Reich’s squad paid a heavy cost for their early celebration. As Chris Vannini shared what happened next on X, “Hawaii! Stanford got penalized for a TikTok dance after a deep sack, and Hawaii turns the drive into a TD and a 14-13 lead over Stanford, late 2Q. Stanford had 45 yards of penalties on the drive.” Now, that was indeed costly. And looks like Stanford made yet another blunder.

Frank Reich mentions Andre Luck’s influence over QB position

After spending most of his five seasons at Oregon State as a backup, quarterback Ben Gulbranson transferred to Stanford in late April after being lured by general manager Luck. But hardly did he expect to be named as the starter. But in mid-August, Stanford announced that Gulbarnson had beaten out Elijah Brown in the QB1 race. Gulbranson’s best season came in 2022 when he took over as a starter midway through the season and went 7-1 for the Beavers.

But looks like Reich landed in yet another hoopla, now with the quarterback position. Gulbranson finished the game 15-for-30 for 109 yards in the air and a costly interception. Reich’s starter’s Week Zero feat was filled with poor decision-making, bad throws, and taking too long to get rid of the ball. Overall, he gave away vibes about not being the one steering the Stanford wagon to the right place. That’s when fans started to throw shade at Reich and Luck for making this roster selection. 

In a press conference, Frank Reich shared, “I think his experience played a big role in him getting the starting job. He’s a proven winner. He was six and one or seven and one as a starter. The conversations to get him here that was really more Andrew[Luck] than anybody else in his role. So, I helped evaluate, watch the tape, but Andrew was playing point on talking to Ben and Ben’s agent and getting him here.” Will Gulbranson bounce back, or will Reich be left carrying the quarterback burden all season?