With Jaivion Green sidelined, Stanford football looks for Aaron Morris to step up

Just six years ago, Aaron Morris did not even know the rules of football. The five-foot-eleven sophomore cornerback had just moved to the U.S. from Jamaica, where he played for the Jamaican National Cricket Team.

Now, Morris has found himself on the biggest stage of college football, playing big snaps against No. 10 Clemson (4-1, 3-0 ACC) at Death Valley. 

“I was playing nickel and thinking that I was probably just gonna be back up nickel for now,” Morris said at a press conference Tuesday. “When Jaivion [Green] went down, I thought I was going in at nickel, but I went in at corner, which was unexpected.”

“It was definitely a little heavy,” Morris said, reflecting on his initial experience at cornerback. “My first game was against Clemson, which had some good receivers.”

The sophomore cornerback struggled against the Tigers, allowing deep passes that allowed Clemson to move the chains. But despite those struggles, Morris will be relied on more to shore up Stanford’s secondary as junior safety Jaivion Green is out for an indefinite period of time after suffering an injury against the Tigers.

For Morris, a major point of emphasis has been on being more mentally prepared to play each game.

“I have to get my confidence up,” he said. “The more reps I get, the more my confidence goes up. If my confidence is up, I will for sure play my best and make plays.”

Last week, Stanford’s pass defense and run defense both suffered in a 31-7 blowout against Virginia Tech. Stanford conceded 201 passing yards and allowed Virginia Tech to on average 10.6 yards per pass, more than double Stanford’s 4.9. Additionally, the Cardinal’s vaunted run defense showed signs of weakness against the Hokies.

Morris noted that the team had hoped for a better result against Virginia Tech, before explaining some of the strengths and weaknesses of the defense.

“We didn’t do our best to stop the run, and that’s not us,” Morris said. “When it comes to stopping the run, we have a lot of tough guys up front with the defensive lineman and linebackers.”

Looking forward, Stanford is facing a Notre Dame offense that has the added dimension of the quarterback run. Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard has led the team in rushing yards the past two games. 

Also, while Notre Dame’s passing attack is not especially vaunted, it will still be a difficult challenge for a Stanford team that lacks quality depth in the secondary.

“They have a really good group of receivers,” Morris said. “They go deep and they are aggressive, so it is definitely going to be a fight on [my] side playing that.”

However, Morris has the opportunity to learn from junior cornerback Collin Wright, who is one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC. Wright has done an exceptional job limiting big plays and yards after catch this season.

“He does everything right technique-wise,” Morris praised. “He’s that guy that you can put anywhere and he makes something happen.”

After two consecutive losses by over 20 points, this Stanford team is at a crossroads.

“The highs are highs and the lows are lows,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said about the team so far this year.

Coming off their biggest low of the season, and with a depleted secondary, Morris’ play will prove critical if the Cardinal are to possibly upset Notre Dame.

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