Troy Taylor won't announce starting QB ahead of Week 1 game against Hawaii

The Stanford head coach will not reveal who will be behind center for Stanford's first game

On Monday, Stanford head coach Troy Taylor chatted with the media ahead of Stanford's first game of the season and the first of his tenure as head coach.

While there were questions about what he thought about Hawaii (0-1) who narrowly beat Vanderbilt who was favored by 17.5 points in their Week 0 matchup, the biggest question was who would get the start at quarterback for the Cardinal. Tanner McKee is currently with the Philadelphia Eagles battling it out with Oregon legend Marcus Mariota for the backup role, leaving a room full of inexperienced signal callers.

To start fall camp it was a four horse race between Ari Patu, Ashton Daniels, Syracuse transfer Justin Lamson, and early enrollee Myles Jackson. Taylor since trimmed the list down to three with the first three quarterbacks each vying for a role and murmurs around the program indicating that Lamson may have the upper hand with Daniels not too far behind him. 

Regardless, the head coach made sure to maintain what will be an element of surprise for Stanford for their Week 1 matchup. Hawaii will have to go off his work at Sacramento State to game plan, while also looking at Wisconsin film to plan for the defense. When it comes to who will be at quarterback, not that there's much film to go off, Hawaii will also have to wait and see. Taylor told us he will not be announcing the starting quarterback ahead of the game, and that we will find out when they take the field. 

Troy Taylor on the starting QB: "Not gonna announce anything"

— Inside The Stanford Cardinal (@InsideStanford) August 28, 2023

Taylor's offense regardless of who is calling the shots at quarterback is predicated on tempo and pushing the ball down field. This past season, Taylor's offense at Sacramento State ranked fourth nationally in scoring offense (42.9 ppg), fourth in total offense (499.8 ypg) and seventh in rushing offense (243.3 ypg). At Stanford he is working with a lot of inexperienced players, but seemed confident in the improvement he has seen.

Who will be leading the offense will remain a mystery until they take the field on Friday.