Takeaways From Stanford Football's Win Over Cal Poly

Dylan Grausz | Sep 9, 2024

Sep 7, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier (24) returns a punt for a touchdown against the Cal Poly Mustangs during the second half at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

For the first time since 2022, the Stanford Cardinal have won a game at Stanford Stadium, taking home the 41-7 victory over the Cal Poly Mustangs to improve to 1-1 on the season and get a wave of momentum heading into a bye week. Here are some impressions and takeaways from the big win.

Elijah Brown wastes no time

Ever since joining the program, freshman quarterback Elijah Brown has been a hot commodity, with many within the program eager to see what he can do. And in the game against Cal Poly, Brown finally got his chance and quickly made an impact, going 7-for-7 with 97 passing yards and a touchdown in his limited action, wasting no time in showing just how good he is.

“Really good,” Taylor said of Brown's performance. “It’s what we’ve seen since he’s been here this spring. Exceptional anticipation, exceptional accuracy, composure. There is a reason why the guy was 44-2. He's very composed and he’s a really talented player and he’s going to be a good one.”

While Ashton Daniels is currently the starter, Brown being only a freshman has him in line to be the future of the team and if anything that he has shown early on is an indication of what is still to come, the future of Stanford football will be in good hands.

A lot of changes to the offensive line

Against TCU in week one, the Cardinal offensive line experienced some struggles, with Daniels getting hit and the running backs having a hard time finding running lanes. Because of that, the Cardinal made some changes to the line heading into this game, moving guys like Fisher Anderson and Connor McLaughlin out of the lineup and giving other guys the opportunity to shine.

“We got some athleticism with [Luke] Baklenko and [Kahlil] House. Obviously House is, he was a senior in high school last year, so that’s tough moving into the college level and playing. But where we are right now as a program, is the freshmen have got to come in and play and be able to contribute. And they're talented. But we will move guys around and Levi [Rogers] ended up coming back in and playing most of the game, so we brought him back in and he did a nice job. So it’s really about just giving ourselves an opportunity to win in real time. Not waiting for four, five games to figure things out, but being bold and taking opportunities to get guys in and see what they can do.”

Offensive line play is key and if the Cardinal are able to really establish a consistent core, then the team could see themselves reach new heights on offense in 2024.

Tiger Bachmeier’s punt return TD was a deciding moment in the game

A close game in the first half, receiver Tiger Bachmeier was elected to be Stanford’s punt returner during the game with regular return man Bryce Farrell out. But Bachmeier filled in admirably, returning a punt 90 yards early in the third quarter with the Cardinal up 14-7 that ended up being a major momentum shifter for the rest of the game.

“Yeah, I think there were two things. When we got stopped inside the five I think they had a lot of momentum,” Taylor said. “They had done some good things. Our defense did a great job responding. Cal Poly got a first down and then we forced a punt, then we were able to call a timeout and save some time and then we had some big plays going down the field and I think that was huge going into the half 14-7 so I think that was helpful for a young team to have a little bit of momentum. Then coming out again, the defense got a stop early on, I think they gave up one first and then we were able to get the ball and make an exceptional return so quickly it turned from a 7-7 game to a 21-7 game and had some momentum and some rhythm and our guys were in attack mode and we did a great job.”

After Bachmeier’s return touchdown, the Cardinal ended up scoring 20 more unanswered points en route to the win. With one of their star players making a big play, Stanford was able to take full control of the game and never looked back.

Improving running back production will be a focus heading into next game

The first couple games have seen many different players enter the mix in the running game, with Micah Ford being the featured back in game one and Chris Davis Jr. leading the way this past week, carrying the ball six times for 53 yards where he averaged 8.8 yards per carry. However, for a team that likes to run the ball, Taylor is looking to see more production out of the ball carriers down the line.

“Just continue to work,” Taylor said. “You know, like I said, the key runs were pretty good for us, so that's going to be a benefit for us. But just got to continue to work. I mean, we're a young team, so the jumps have to be significant every single week when you're playing with young guys. We'll come in [Sunday] and watch the tape and then move forward quickly. So the trend has to be upward each week with young guys, because we're not satisfied with playing close games; we want to win them. We're going to play with young guys, and they’ve got to get better.”

The running back room is young and while a lot of them are still adjusting to their roles, continuing to grow and improve will help create more options for a rising offense.

Bye week will be crucial

This season, the Cardinal got a week three bye and while it is early in the season, it has the potential to be extremely beneficial as it comes right before the team begins ACC play and can use it to regroup before the start of a grueling conference schedule.

“I think we got a couple games on tape and have a big game coming up and now we have an opportunity,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we’re healthy, I haven't talked to the training staff yet. We get an opportunity to progress and improve, and then get better for our first ACC game. So it'll be just like we always do: evaluate what we've done, what we can do to improve, what we can do to improve the schematics, and what we're doing to give our guys a better chance. Building on their talents. And then just continuing to hone in on our skills and hopefully be a better team in our next game than we were today.”

The rest of the season will be a big test, but if everything goes according to plan during its week off, then Stanford will enter ACC competition ready to put up a hard fight.