Stanford at Hawaii

Records: Season opener for both teams

Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Ching Complex, Honolulu

TV: CBS

Radio: KNBR 1050 AM

Series history: Stanford leads 4-0. The Cardinal has beaten Hawaii by at least 11 points in all four previous matchups, including a 37-24 win to open the 2023 season. Hawaii will play at Stanford in 2026 and 2030.

Stanford storylines: Frank Reich has come out of retirement to coach in college for the first time while GM Andrew Luck, his former QB at Indianapolis, searches for a permanent replacement. He will try to defy expectations at a program that went 3-9 (2-6 in conference) in its first year in the ACC and once again saw many of its top players transfer out. A program-record 17 transfers includes seven potential starters led by QB Ben Gulbranson, who spent the past five seasons at Oregon State.

Hawaii storylines: Hawaii coach Timmy Chang (13-25, 8-15 in the Mountain West) is winless in six games against Power Four conference teams in three seasons. But this appears to be his best team since returning to his alma mater — Hawaii returns 14 starters from a team that went 5-7 last season, 3-4 in the Mountain West. Hawaii’s pass-heavy attack is led by redshirt freshman Micah Alejado, who threw for 469 yards and five TDs against New Mexico in his lone start last season and hasn’t thrown an interception in 17 games, dating back to his junior year of high school.

Stats that matter: This is the earliest-ever start of the season for either team. The Cardinal’s previous earliest date was Aug. 26 on multiple occasions, most recently in 2017 when it defeated Rice 62-7 in Australia. … Stanford’s rush defense was its best since 2014 last season, limiting opponents to just 133.5 rushing yards per game, 41st in FBS. The Cardinal held Hawaii to minus-5 rushing yards in their 2023 meeting. … The Cardinal is the only FBS team to play in five time zones this season.

— HAROLD GUTMANN