The old football adage is when you have two quarterbacks, you really have no quarterbacks.
That might be the case for Stanford this season as first-year head coach Troy Taylor is making his way through the year. Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson have split time behind center, but in the 21-20 loss to Arizona, Daniels took most of the snaps and it looks like he’s QB1 for now.
Going with Daniels, a 6-foot-2 215-pounder from Buford, GA, would seem like the smart decision. Daniels is completing nearly 60 percent of his passes and the Cardinal are gaining on average 12 yards per completion.
His favorite target, and deservingly so, is tight end Benjamin Yurosek. He was a Second-Teamer last season and the media selected the big 6-4, 248-pounder as a preseason First-Team All-Pac-12 player.
Although every defense knows Yurosek is Stanford’s No. 1 target for whoever is throwing the ball, he still leads the team with 15 catches, 247 yards and a score.
Stanford’s run game is better than what Colorado showed the Ducks, but not by a lot. Tailback Casey Filkins leads the way with 46 yards per game and a touchdown.
This game will feature a below-average offense that will face one of the Pac-12 best defenses. That equation should be bad news for Stanford. But the Ducks still have to do their job at the end of the day.
“I mean this is a bring-your-own juice game, It’s gonna be a different atmosphere,” Lanning said. “But if you step on the grass and it means something to you, you’re gonna step on there and try to perform to a certain level because you have pride in the game.”
Along the offensive front, Stanford had one of the biggest lines in the country. Those days are over. The biggest starting lineman is the center Levi Rogers at 301 pounds. We all saw what the Ducks do to an undersized line and it’s not pretty.
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