Could Stanford football soon see the return of QB Elijah Brown?

New week, same mission. A blowout loss to Notre Dame has the Stanford Cardinal hungrier than ever to pick up another win. But with a matchup against another top 25 team in the cards for this week, what are the thoughts? Here is what head coach Troy Taylor had to say about things.

Oct 8, 2022; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Levi Rogers (57) blocks Oregon State Beavers defensive lineman Simon Sandberg (96) during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Hungry to snap a three game skid, the Stanford Cardinal (2-4, 1-2 ACC) will return home for a matchup with No. 21 SMU, another team that keeps turning heads this season. In dire need of a win as they fight to be eligible for a bowl game, the Cardinal are locked in and ready, focused on giving it everything they have so they can set themselves up for success.

Head coach Troy Taylor spoke with the media on Tuesday, giving his thoughts and updates on the state of affairs ahead of this week's game. Here are five takeaways from what coach Taylor said.

SMU is a complete team in all phases

The Cardinal knew when they joined the ACC that they would be facing stiff competition. And that has been the case all season long. This week, the Cardinal will face another ranked team in SMU (No. 21), with early film study of their tape showing just how complete they are and why they have been able to start this season off at 5-1.

“They’re really explosive on offense, fast tempo, and they’ve got two quarterbacks that can play,” Taylor said.  “They’re as fast tempo wise as you’ll see in the country and they play really well with a lead, they get on top and they’ve obviously been very successful. So we’ve got to be ready for their tempo, and obviously first to second down is really important on the defensive side of the ball. And then offensively, we’re going against a really good defense that has done a nice job against the run. They’re difficult to run against and they’ve got some good secondary players.”

Every team the Cardinal will face will be very tough and in what will be a big week to get back into the win column, the team is staying locked in and ready so that they can be prepared for whatever comes at them.

Elijah Brown is ahead of schedule

Getting hurt in the game against Cal Poly, quarterback Elijah Brown was expected to be sidelined for a while, with the possibility of redshirting being a real option. But, it appears that Brown is ahead of schedule on his recovery as Taylor seems optimistic that the freshman will be able to return to action very soon.

“He has progressed much more rapidly than I initially was told or thought,” Taylor said. “And so really it’s just a matter of when he feels comfortable and ready to roll. So I would say it’s way ahead of schedule. Now, will that be this week? I don’t know if that’s possible, I guess it’s possible, I don’t know if that will happen but he’s definitely getting [back] a lot quicker than we thought he would be ready.”

Since arriving on campus, the hype surrounding Brown has been extremely high, and if the team is able to get their young gunslinger back sooner rather than later, it's possible that he could take over the team and become the new leader in the locker room.

Offensive line unit has started to find its rhythm 

Last season and through the early part of this year, the offensive line was a glaring weakness for Stanford, with the run game struggling to establish itself and constant tinkering needing to occur. But over the last few games, the offensive line has seemingly found a groove, helping the running backs become more of a backbone for the offense while also being able to establish more of a consistent starting five in spite of injuries to players such as Levi Rogers.

“We’ve done some good things,” Taylor said. “We’ve run the ball well at times, and so I feel pretty good about their progress. Obviously, Levi being out had an effect where we had to kind of move guys around a little bit, but I thought they've done a good job. They’ve had incredible challenging defensive lines these last three weeks and I think they’ve held up pretty good.

"Obviously, to get to the level we want them to be at, we’ve got to continue to play better but if you’re looking at the comparison in terms of last season and this season, it’s not even close. We’re so much better up front than we were last year.”

It all starts up front, and if the Cardinal can establish consistently strong line play, it will help take the offense to new heights and make the Cardinal more competitive and capable of pulling out wins in every game that they play in.

Young guys have helped compensate for the injuries at running back

At the start of the year, it was expected that Sedrick Irvin would be the starting running back, with the departures of E.J. Smith and Casey Filkins paving the way for him to take over the reins. However, Irvin has been injured most of the year, forcing freshmen such as Micah Ford and Chris Davis Jr. to step up. Ford, who had started to evolve into the lead back, was injured and did not play last week. While concerning at first, Davis Jr. stepped up and played well, proving just how much talent the Cardinal were able to bring in at that position this season.

“I feel good about our young running backs, they’re improving rapidly,” Taylor said. “That will happen when you play young [players] and your first few games are gonna go really fast in terms of your vision and how you see it and then as you become more comfortable, things start to slow down. So you’re seeing that with Micah and then Chris and then we’re still hopeful to get Cole Tabb back at some point. But yeah, I like our group. You wish they were a little more seasoned but they’re getting that now.”

Depth is important, but the fact that the Cardinal not only have depth at running back but multiple guys that are capable of starting gives them a lot of flexibility and will allow them to see minimal dropoff in production in the event of more injuries.

Thin at defensive back, Stanford may possibly need some reinforcements

Injuries are mounting at The Farm, with the defensive back room especially being decimated. And while the hope is that guys will come back healthy and ready to go, all options remain open, even if it means having players possibly change positions.

“Part of it is who’s gonna get healthy and be able to play,” Taylor said. “And then if you take from other positions, obviously that’s going to affect the other position, and then the guy’s not very experienced. But I would say everything for sure is on the table in terms of being able to put the best guys on the field. We do like our young guys so you’ll obviously want to give them an opportunity to show what they can do.”

Obviously, the team does not want to have to resort to that, but needing to rack up some more wins in order to be bowl eligible while looking to also still be competitive in games, the team will do what it has to do in order to give themselves the best chance to succeed.