Stanford's Cole Tabb on Approaching Pitt This Weekend

With Micah Ford injured, Cole Tabb has stepped up huge for the Cardinal backfield

Oct 18, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Elijah Brown (2) hands the ball off to Stanford Cardinal running back Cole Tabb (33) during the second quarter against the Florida State Seminoles at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Stanford running back Cole Tabb has had quite the breakout this season. As a redshirt freshman, Tabb has earned 376 yards and two touchdowns through eight games this season. Even in a tough running back room to win, Tabb has gotten his chance, and made the most of it, even before the injury to Micah Ford.

Stanford on SI spoke with the Cardinal running back following Wednesday practice, where he looks to get Stanford’s fourth win of the season on The Farm, when they take on Pitt later today.

Speaking on the dominant first half that the Cardinal showed against Miami, Tabb said “we felt like we caught them off guard, running tempo to start the game. We were getting in a good groove. Obviously, we came out, first drive and I feel like we kind of dominated everywhere around the field.

"I feel like we were moving the ball really well. Obviously we ran into some roadblocks, like stuff didn't go our way. But I feel like one thing that we did was like we stuck together as a team, offense getting on the field, defense getting off. And we gave ourselves the opportunities to capitalize.”

Stanford’s running back room has been deep, and that has been helpful to Tabb in his ability to improve every week.

“Just having all these guys feeding off of each other and whenever you're in there, like, you can always miss something and there's always stuff to get better at and someone else can always help you with that. You're not perfect. You're always learning no matter what. So having those guys can really push me to that next level to understand the game of football. It's super helpful.”

Despite four straight wins from the Panthers, Tabb isn’t worried about what Pitt has to offer. Instead, the focus is within the program.

“Our biggest focus is just focusing on us. Like regardless of their record, how they did this year so far, how they're going to do in the future, that doesn't really matter to us. We are really just focusing on what's in our building and just watering our grass. That's how we talk about it. Just focusing on what we do, and the rest is gonna take care of itself.”

Stanford’s playing in their first home 12:30 game of the season, and Tabb is excited for it.

“It's gonna be a lot of fun. You get to play football like on the weekend, like under the sun. It feels like you're a little kid again. You really enjoy these moments. It's what you live to do.”

If Stanford is going to beat Pitt this weekend, a lot will revolve around success in the run game, and Tabb is the engine that makes that room go.