Stanford football has now lost four games in a row, most recently losing to No. 21 SMU on Saturday at home by a final score of 40-10. Below are five things to take away from the game and the current losing skid.
RECAP: Slow start dooms Stanford against No. 21 SMU
#1. Elijah Brown has to be the quarterback going forward: While Stanford did lose convincingly, one positive thing that came out of the game was true freshman Elijah Brown making his return after being out with a hand/finger injury. Brown went 16-32 for 153 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Not an amazing performance, but he showed a lot more promise than any other quarterback on Stanford’s roster. Just the fact that he got tight end Sam Roush involved speaks to this. It’s very clear that Brown is the best quarterback Stanford has and that if they want to pick up even a couple more wins this season, they’re going to need Brown to be the guy under center.
#2. The secondary is lacking in depth: With safeties Scotty Edwards and Jay Green both out along with corner back Zahran Manley, SMU took advantage early by scoring 21 points in the 1st quarter, lighting up the Cardinal defense like a Christmas tree. Eventually, the Cardinal defense settled in after that disastrous opening quarter, but regardless, it was clear that while the starting secondary unit is better than last year, there’s quite a drop off from the starters to the second stringers. This secondary needs more depth and that can only come through recruiting.
#3. Stanford’s offensive line still has a lot of work to do: Stanford’s offensive line gave up six sacks against SMU on Saturday and weren’t able to create the necessary holes for the running backs. This game was a reminder that Stanford is young up front and that they have a lot of growth to do both physically and mentally on that side. It also didn’t help to have starting center Levi Rogers in a boot on the sideline. An injury to a guy like that is the last thing Stanford needs.
#4. Stanford’s fight wasn’t an issue: While the result isn’t what Stanford wanted, they showed plenty of fight throughout the entire game. That’s why in the final three quarters, SMU won by a final score of 19-10. Once Elijah Brown came into the game to replace Ashton Daniels and the defense put that bad quarter behind them, Stanford actually looked ok. They played hard and didn’t throw in the towel. That’s one positive Stanford can take from this game.
#5. Troy Taylor has his work cut out for him: This game was a painful reminder for head coach Troy Taylor that “it’s a long way to the top” and that everything is not “all right now.” This Stanford program is not anywhere close to what it once was and it’s going to take some time for them to get back to the kind of level that they as a program hope to be at. If Taylor is going to turn this ship around, he’s going to need a commitment from everybody on his staff to everybody in the athletic and university administration to do so. This isn’t to say Taylor isn’t already getting that help, but when you see Stanford getting waxed in front of 19,000 people, it makes you realize just how far this program has fallen and how much elbow grease and determination it will take to get things back on track. It all starts with having a bounce back performance against Wake Forest on Saturday.
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