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.
Elijah Brown #2 of the Stanford Cardinal drops back to pass against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium on Oct. 19, 2024 in Stanford, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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 …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
