Facing their first ranked team of the season, Stanford football’s defense stared down a 10-0 deficit and a Clemson offense ready to strike again. As quarterback Cade Klubnik received the snap at Stanford’s own 40 yard line fresh off a first down, he looked to the outside to pass. Hidden from his view was junior cornerback Collin Wright, who had taken the underneath receiver on the pass concept.  

“We were in Cover 2, and it was a tempo situation, so I knew they were gonna take a shot downfield,” Wright said. “I’m reading Cade down the field. He’s looking inside and he sees me inside, then I saw him turn his shoulders outside, and I knew the ball was going outside.”

“Right when I saw it release his hands, my speed turned on and I got my head around. From that point it’s like playing baseball: go track the ball and go get it.”

Though he stumbled over the sideline, Wright’s interception breathed new life into a dejected Stanford team. As the Clemson audience reacted with horror, Stanford’s sideline burst into applause.

Despite Stanford’s 40-14 defeat on their second straight road game to Clemson, played just as Hurricane Helene hammered the Carolina coast, Wright had one of the best games of his college career. The junior cornerback from Missouri City, Texas not only displayed superior coverage skills and football instincts against the Tigers, but also displayed his versatility when he stepped in to play nickel when junior safety Jaivion Green exited the game with an injury.

According to Wright, that versatility comes from playing high school football in the state of Texas, known to be a hotbed of football talent.

“I played safety in high school, so I’m used to fitting, running an alley and all those things,” Wright said. “When my coach calls on me to play nickel and safety, it [feels] just like high school. Having that experience and having a great high school coach that set me and let me learn schemes made me an overall great defensive back.”

Pro Football Focus currently grades Wright as one of the top four cornerbacks in the ACC, a testament to the strong start the junior has had to the season. But rather than just his individual performance, Wright also highlighted the defense’s overall improvement. The defense’s performance has been “great,” he noted.

“Our front has been playing lights out,” he said. “Some of the issues that we’ve had have not come from up front, but little communication things on the back end. All the statistics we possess have been pretty much cut in half from last year.”

Indeed, Stanford held the much vaunted Clemson offense to just one rushing touchdown and 168 rushing yards — the latter statistic significantly underperforming the Cardinal’s 261 rushing yards. For Wright, given his reputation as a tackling cornerback who is not afraid to get his hands dirty, the efficacy of Stanford’s run defense represents a substantial step forward from their performance last year. He attributed this success to improved trust in the defensive coordinator Bobby April III and his scheme.

When asked what the weaknesses of Stanford’s defense are, Wright replied, “I wouldn’t say we have too many.”

For Wright, Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech is deeply personal, as he grew up with quarterback Kyron Drones and played AAU basketball and little league football with the quarterback. 

“I can’t wait to welcome him to the Farm,” he said. “I’m definitely excited to go up against that guy and to have seen him develop as we grow older.”

Wright said that he expected the team to have opportunities to collect interceptions this weekend, and stressed the need for the team to take advantage when those opportunities come.

For this Stanford team, coming back from an eventful two week stretch on the Atlantic Coast, playing Virginia Tech back on the Farm represents an exciting opportunity. The team especially hopes to show out in front of the 2009 Sun Bowl team and the 2010 Orange Bowl team, which represent the beginning of the Stanford football dynasty that stretched in the late 2010s.

“All those old Stanford greats are gonna come back and watch us play,” Wright said. “So the emphasis this week is to win at home.”