On Friday at 8:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network & KNBR 1050 AM, Stanford football will take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on the road. In advance, head coach Troy Taylor, redshirt junior running back E.J. Smith, and senior safety Alaka’i Gilman shared their thoughts on the matchup on Monday morning.

VIDEO: Stanford Football: Troy Taylor Weekly Press Conference | Hawaii

First off, Taylor did not name a starting quarterback. Justin Lamson, Ashton Daniels, and Ari Patu remain the three contenders. So, we’ll just have to see what decision Taylor makes on game day. It sounds like that’s when a decision will be announced.

Injury-wise, Taylor said the team is looking healthy. A couple of minor injuries with some guys being game-time decisions, but aside from that everyone is looking fine.

As a whole, Taylor said the team is excited to play some football and get after it. They’ve been working really hard to prepare for this moment and now the moment is here. Taylor likes the amount of leaders they have on the team. Smith and Gilman are two guys who he feels are already leaders for the team. He’s pleased with what both of them have brought to the team so far.

Taylor also shared his thoughts on the Rainbow Warriors and what challenges they bring. One of the things Hawaii looks to bring is aggression on 4th down. Taylor is used to playing the same style, so he says he understands why they do that. They’ve watched a ton of film on them already and it sounds like watching them play over the weekend was very helpful.

Smith is very excited to be back on the field after missing last year with a knee injury. He feels like he’s put the preparation in and is ready to go. One of the things that he said that stood out to me is the fact that he likes the youth on the coaching staff. Having a running backs coach in Malcolm Agnew who is young and recently played running back is something that he really likes.

As for Gilman, he’s excited about the scheme they are running defensively. He feels it’s a great change from what they were running in the past. A lot more aggression as opposed to sitting back in coverage. He feels like it really helped to see what Hawaii does by watching them play over the weekend against Vanderbilt. It gave them a good feel for the schemes that the Warriors will look to run. As a native Hawaiian, he’s pumped to face guys who he played with and against in high school. That part is going to be fun for him. As a whole, Gilman feels like the defense is committed to what they are doing and that they have great locker room guys who are all tight knit.

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