On Saturday, Stanford football fell to No. 21 SMU at home by a final score of 40-10. SMU sophomore quarterback Kevin Jennings led the way for the Mustangs going 17-27 for 322 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while senior wide receiver Key’Shawn Smith had four receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown. Stanford true freshman quarterback Elijah Brown made his return to the lineup, coming off the bench after the team got down 21-0. He went 16-32 for 153 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. SMU improves to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference | SMU
BOX SCORE: SMU at Stanford-Saturday, October 19th
“Got some young guys in the secondary. They attacked 'em immediately. We got in a hole, 21-0,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “Good thing is I think those guys settled in. 21-point deficit; it was a tough start. Tough for young guys playing in the secondary, especially against a team like that. They attacked them right away. They had a good plan. Put us in an early deficit.”
This game was really decided in the 1st quarter. SMU got the ball at the start and after Stanford stacked them up on the opening kickoff, SMU responded with an 87 yard touchdown pass from Kevin Jennings to Kelvontay Dixon. That made it a 7-0 lead for the Mustangs with 14:41 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s first two drives resulted in punts while SMU’s next drive was a turnover on downs as they went for it on 4th and 2 from the Stanford 41 yard line and didn’t convert. Aidan Flintoft’s first punt for Stanford was terrible as it was shanked only 14 yards, but his second punt was excellent as it was 38 yards to the SMU 7 yard line with 6:34 to go in the 1st quarter. Despite pinning SMU back, Stanford’s defense would not hold as their next drive ended with Kevin Jennings finding Key’Shawn Smith for a 45 yard touchdown reception to make it 14-0 with 4:31 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s next drive also ended in a punt as SMU got the ball back on their own 45 yard line with 2:20 to go in the 1st quarter. SMU scored quickly on the next drive as well. After Kevin Jennings found RJ Maryland for a 17 yard completion, Jennings hooked up with Maryland again for a 38 yard touchdown pass. It was now a 21-0 lead for SMU with 1:47 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford would get the ball back via touchback, getting the ball on their own 25 yard line. At this point, Ashton Daniels’ day at quarterback was done as true freshman Elijah Brown came in to take over. Daniels didn’t have a great day, going 2-5 for 20 yards, so it made sense to make the switch. Especially since Brown was available to go. Brown had been out with a hand/finger injury, but his progress has been better than expected as is evident by him coming in to replace Daniels.
“We were down 21-0,” Taylor said of putting Brown in. “Wanted a spark. He was ready to go. I wanted to see what he could do in extended time. That was the decision for Elijah coming in.”
From then on, it was a pretty even game. Stanford was the first team to score in the 2nd quarter as an interception by Mitch Leigber gave Stanford the ball on the SMU 14 yard line with 8:32 to go in the 2nd quarter. The drive would end with Elijah Brown finding Elic Ayomanor for an 18 yard touchdown pass after Stanford got backed up a bit. That made it a 21-7 game with 6:39 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Unfortunately for Stanford, SMU would score on their next drive as LJ Johnson had a rush up the middle for five yards to cap off a 12 play 59 yard drive, making it a 28-7 lead for the Mustangs with 1:51 to go in the 2nd quarter. What made that drive painful for Stanford was the fact that they got affected by a questionable roughing the passer call against linebacker Jahsiah Galvan on a third down that gave SMU a fresh set of downs. Were it not for that call, Stanford would have forced a punt and gotten the ball back with an opportunity to make it a one score game. Instead, SMU was able to find their second wind a bit and march down the field to score.
Stanford then had a quick three and out, giving SMU the ball back with the ball on their own 20 yard line with 1:11 to go in the 2nd quarter. SMU marched down the field and was able to make a 51 yard field goal to make it a 31-7 lead at halftime.
From there, it was pretty much an even game. Stanford added a field goal in the 3rd quarter while SMU got a safety and touchdown plus the extra point in the 4th quarter. The safety occurred with 11:40 to go in the 4th quarter as Stanford was backed up near the end zone while the touchdown came as LJ Johnson had a two yard rushing touchdown to cap off a 13 play, 63 yard drive 40-10 would end up being the final score.
For Stanford, this is obviously a disappointing result. The 1st quarter in particular was awful. Stanford was missing multiple starters in the secondary and SMU did a great job of taking advantage. By the time Stanford’s defense was able to settle in, it was too late. And then while the defense got off to a poor start, it’s not like the offense was great. Scoring 10 points isn’t good enough and they were never able to get into a good flow.
The only positive aspect of this game for Stanford is that they were able to get Elijah Brown into the game and for the most part he looked good. I do wonder how healthy his hand is given he was floating some of his balls a bit, but his decision making was overall really good. He was making his reads and for the first time all season, tight end Sam Roush actually got going, finishing with six receptions for 75 yards. The biggest issues with the offense were dropped balls, something that is outside of Brown’s control.
“Very tough. He hung in there and he took some hits. He continued to go through his progression. For the most part he made good decisions,” Taylor said of Brown. “He had a couple drops, I thought were really good throws. The first down was a big-time throw. Just his mental toughness, consistency and hanging in there. It's not easy to do as a true freshman to come in under that scenario. I was proud of how he hung in there. Obviously he can play better. He will. But I was proud of how he competed.”
As for SMU, they should feel good about this win. They did what they were supposed to do and cruised to an easy win on the road. Even though Stanford is a rebuilding program still trying to find their footing, games like this can be trap games if you’re not careful. SMU came out with good energy from the opening kickoff and delivered the goods.
Up next for Stanford is their homecoming game on Saturday, October 26th against Wake Forest. Kickoff is set for 12:30 PM PT on ACC Network. Obviously the big thing to look for will be whether or not Elijah Brown will be the starter going forward.
“We'll see,” Taylor said of who will start next week at quarterback. “We'll evaluate the tape. I haven't made a decision on that… Yeah, my message to them, they're down obviously. I hurt for them. I loved how they continued to compete. We're not satisfied with the outcome in any way.
“I thought all the way down to the goal line stand they were trying to make, our guys just continued to battle. My message to them was proud of how hard they competed. We're not happy. We got to improve, starting with me, in every area.
“We have an opportunity, another shot next week. They can feel bad for 24 hours. Tough stretch of really good opponents last few weeks. Now we got an opportunity to play another home game against Wake Forest. We'll lick our wounds and will be ready to roll.”
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