Stanford football debuts new offensive line in first home victory in two years

Coming off a 34-27 loss to TCU, the start of Stanford football’s Saturday game against Cal Poly did not give fans a reason to be confident. As Cal Poly tied the game 7-7 and stopped the Cardinal on a pivotal fourth down at the goal line in the second quarter, the memories of last year’s 30-23 loss to Sacramento State resurfaced.

But a late touchdown drive to close the half and a 90-yard punt return touchdown by sophomore wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier put Stanford up two scores early in the third quarter. The Cardinal never relented from that point, securing a 41-7 win against the Mustangs to earn the first victory at Stanford Stadium since 2022.

“Our whole message the entire game was to be physical and execute the entire game, for four quarters,” said Stanford head coach Troy Taylor. “Cal Poly came out and did some pretty good things — the trick play was pretty impressive. But it was really just about sustained focus and passion for the game, and believing that the tide of the game was gonna move in your favor.”

The Cardinal’s slow offensive start could be attributed to younger players. Taylor decided to start sophomore Allen Thomason at center, while placing freshman Khalil House and sophomore Luke Baklenko at left and right tackles, respectively. 

“We [wanted] some athleticism with Baklenko and House. Obviously House was a senior in high school last year, so that’s tough moving into the college level and playing,” Taylor said. “But where we are at right now as a program is that freshmen have to come in and play, and they have to contribute. We will move guys around, but Levi [Rogers] ended up coming back in and playing most of the game.”

“It’s really about giving ourselves an opportunity to win in real-time. Not giving ourselves four-to-five games to figure things out, but being bold and taking opportunities to get guys in and see what they can do.”

The Cardinal definitely displayed its youth on the offensive line, giving up nine tackles for loss to Cal Poly. While junior quarterback Ashton Daniels was only sacked once, he often had to scramble in order to buy himself time to throw the ball.

But the line’s performance improved over the course of the game, with the Mustangs failing to tally a tackle-for-loss during the fourth quarter.

However, Taylor knows that the unit will need to improve rapidly before conference play, or else the Cardinal may fail to improve on last season’s 3-9 record.

“The thing about Ashton is that he’s one of the biggest, strongest and fastest guys on our team, and he’s tough,” Taylor said. “But the other side of that is that we got to give him more balance with runs to the running back.”

A glimpse into the future

True freshman quarterback Elijah Brown also received his first game snaps in a Stanford uniform on Saturday. The former 4-star quarterback was impressive, going 7-for-7 and accumulating 97 yards with one touchdown pass. 

Brown appeared to be the most decisive quarterback on the roster, making quick reads and getting rid of the ball quickly in his limited snaps. The 6-foot-2 gunslinger led two drives for the Cardinal, which resulted in a touchdown and field goal.

Taylor noted that Brown has “exceptional anticipation, exceptional accuracy and composure.”

“There’s a reason the guy was 44-2 [in high school],” he said. “He’s a really talented player, and he’s gonna be a good one.”

Brown’s performance leaves Stanford’s quarterback questions unresolved. While Daniels has the experience and is a capable runner, Brown’s quick decision making and accuracy could be a better fit given the offensive line’s struggles. 

Luckily, Stanford has an upcoming bye week before taking on Syracuse, which will leave plenty of time for Taylor to evaluate his options.

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