Stanford changes quarterbacks in lopsided loss to SMU, but sluggish offense still in need of kick start

STANFORD – Saturday may have been the start to the Elijah Brown era at Stanford. But breakdowns in the secondary and throughout the offense showed that the Cardinal will need more than a change at quarterback if it hopes to take advantage of a softer closing schedule.

Stanford’s depleted secondary gave up 205 yards passing and three long touchdowns – including an 87-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage – in the first quarter of the 40-10 loss to No. 21 SMU.

After Stanford (2-5, 1-3 ACC)  gained a total of 25 yards in the first three series under second-year starter Ashton Daniels, head coach Troy Taylor – who is also the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach – turned to Brown, whose only previous collegiate experience was in mop-up duty against Cal Poly.

Brown threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Elic Ayomanor but was otherwise ineffective against the Mustangs, completing 16 of 32 passes for 153 yards and two interceptions and being sacked six times, including once for a safety.

But other than the score by the 6-foot-2 Ayomanor, who outjumped 5-10 Cole Sanders Jr. to make the catch, Brown didn’t have much help. One of the interceptions came off the hands of receiver Emmett Mosley V, who also dropped a long fourth-down pass.

“(Brown was) very tough,” Taylor said. “He hung in there and he took some hits. He continued to go through his progression. For the most part he made good decisions. He had a couple drops, I thought were really good throws. 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.”

SMU (6-1, 3-0 ACC) entered the game with an FBS-best 15 takeaways. The Cardinal running backs contributed 34 yards on 19 carries, which didn’t help alleviate the pressure on Brown.

“We have to run the football to help out our quarterbacks,” Taylor said. “That’s one thing, so they can’t tee off on you.”

Brown had completed all seven of his pass attempts in Week 2 against Cal Poly, but was injured in practice about a month ago and wasn’t available again until last week. He went 42-2 at powerhouse Mater Dei and was the only QB in school history to win two state championships.

“I think he settled in a little bit,” Taylor said. “I think once you start playing, you get a rhythm. That’s a pretty big stage for a kid, even for a guy like Elijah who has played a lot of big-time games. I really thought he started to settle in and play better. He’ll continue to feel more comfortable.”

Taylor didn’t commit to Brown starting Saturday against Wake Forest (3-4, 1-2). But Stanford entered the weekend ranked 122nd out of 133 teams with 165.8 passing yards a game under Daniels and the Cardinal had averaged 16.2 points a game against FBS teams.

Then again, the starting QB won’t matter if Stanford’s defense doesn’t improve. Playing without three regular starters in the secondary — safeties Jay Green and Scotty Edwards and cornerback Zahran Manley – the Cardinal allowed 501 yards to SMU, including TD throws of 87, 45, and 38 yards in the first quarter as the Mustangs went up 21-0.

“I think they hung in there and started to play a little bit better as the game went on,” Taylor said. “We just weren’t able to sustain anything on offense. Unfortunately they were on the field a lot.”

Safety Mitch Leigber did intercept a pass at the SMU 14, setting up the Cardinal’s only touchdown. The punt coverage team also forced a fumble that set up Stanford’s field goal.

But the highlights were few and far between for a team that lost its fourth straight game by at least 24 points.

Three of those losses came to ranked teams. But none of the remaining five teams on Stanford’s schedule are ranked, starting with Wake Forest Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and the only team left with a winning record is 4-3 Louisville.

“We have an opportunity, another shot next week,” Taylor said. “They can feel bad for 24 hours. Tough stretch of really good opponents the 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.”

The Cardinal hasn’t beaten an FBS team at home since Oct. 22, 2022.

“I’ll say this. These are the most resourceful young men that I’ve ever been around,” Taylor said. “They just continued to battle. The mental toughness is incredible. I know they’ll continue to compete and we’ll bounce back from it, for sure.”