TCU Coach Sonny Dykes Praises Stanford's Defense

Jason Burke | Sep 1, 2024

Jul 9, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

While the end result wasn't what head coach Troy Taylor and the Stanford football program wanted on Friday night, there were plenty of positives to take away from the 34-27 loss as the team looks to improve upon last year's 3-9 record.

One of those positives, as mentioned by Taylor, was the team's defense. "Resiliency. We got more turnovers that were big. That was great to see. Our defense created some turnovers. Really made a big difference. And our guys keep competing and those are the positives for sure. Had a chance to win. Kenney kicked the ball really well. Just disappointing part is not being able to finish and make some plays down the stretch on both sides of the ball."

That defense was bolstered by the additions of junior safety Jay Green and graduate transfer Clay Patterson on the defensive line. Patterson recovered a fumble for the second time of his college career, and the first recovery since 2022 when he played with Yale. Green set a career high in tackles with seven while also forcing, and recovering, a fumble.

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes heaped plenty of praise on Taylor and the defense to open his postgame presser.

"First of all, gotta give Stanford a lot of credit. I thought Troy and his staff did and excellent job getting those guys ready to play. They came out with an entirely new defense, a new scheme. It gave us problems. Not something that we spent a lot of time preparing for, and again, you've got to give those guys a ton of credit.

"I thought they did a great job of game planning and putting their players in a position to win the football game. Hats off to Stanford. I thought their guys played hard, I thought they played smart, I thought they played disciplined, kind of like you'd expect Stanford to play."

Senior linebacker Gaethan Bernadel spoke with the Stanford media after the game, and was asked to rate the team's defense on Friday night. "I mean, I thought it was great start today. Gave up a lot of points, but I think we came in and did what we had to do for a lot of moments. You know what I mean? Obviously left some plays on the table. We could be better but I feel like we're taking the right steps
and moving forward."

That next Stanford football game will be at home against Cal Poly on Saturday at 4 p.m. and will be available to watch on the ACC Network.