On Tuesday, Stanford football head coach Troy Taylor spoke at a weekly press conference prior to Saturday’s home game against SMU.

Shuffling the deck

Stanford football will head into their Week 7 matchup with a banged-up secondary. Graduate safety Omari Porter and junior safety Jaivion Green will both be unavailable. Sophomore cornerback Aaron Morris and fifth-year cornerback Zahran Manley are currently questionable. 

”As the season’s gone on, we’ve lost players, so we’re gonna be a different team,” said head coach Troy Taylor. “A lot of teams [acquire depth] through the transfer portal. We end up having to use a lot of young players when our starters go down.” 

When asked about moving players around, Taylor noted that the team has already started shuffling players on the defensive side. He also left open the possibility of bringing players over from the offense.

Progress on the offense

Taylor said he is impressed with the offensive line so far this year. He noted the success the Cardinal have had running the ball at times and praised the unit for its efforts. He also acknowledged that the unit could play better, especially after efforts against top defensive fronts the past three weeks. But overall, the progress has been evident. 

”It’s not even close. We’re so much better up front than we were last year,” Taylor said.

The offense may also see a new face return earlier than expected. 

According to Taylor, freshman quarterback Elijah Brown “has progressed much more rapidly than initially was thought” in his recovery from a hand injury suffered during a bye week practice. Coach Taylor said that he is “way ahead of schedule” and that he could be available this week.

A new rival

Stanford will face another new conference rival this week, this time one that they will see on a yearly basis. Stanford will play SMU for only the second time ever, the first matchup being Stanford’s 1936 Rose Bowl win. This is the first of what will become a yearly matchup as the ACC looks to minimize travel for both teams. 

“[SMU is] really explosive on offense, fast tempo [and] one of the fastest in the country,” Taylor said.

It will be crucial for Stanford to start fast, as Taylor noted that the SMU team ”play really well with a lead.” The Cardinal will look for its second win this season against the Mustangs at 5:00 p.m in Stanford Stadium.