Stanford coach Troy Taylor arrived on The Farm as an offensive mastermind.
In his last season at Sacramento State, his Hornets ranked fourth nationally in the FCS in scoring and yardage. He was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Washington when it led the FCS in passing, and the offensive coordinator at Utah when Zach Moss ran for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Even Folsom High School, where Taylor began his coaching career, set a California state record for points in a season.
But as his second season at the helm comes to a close Friday in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game at San Jose State (1 p.m., CBS), Stanford’s offense is one of the worst in the country.
The Cardinal (3-8) rank 123rd out of 133 FBS teams in yards per game (318.9) and 111th in points (22.1). They had eight drives over the final three quarters of last week’s Big Game, but with a chance to claim the Axe for the first time in four years, Stanford recorded just 107 yards in those possessions, including 25 yards in the fourth quarter of a 24-21 loss in Berkeley.
When asked if he will continue to hold all three positions of head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach going forward, Taylor said he will evaluate those responsibilities after the season.
“If ever feel like I’m not doing a good enough job and I’m spread too thin, then absolutely, I would evaluate that,” Taylor said. “I’ve got to do that because I have to put our team in the best situation and I have to make sure that I’ve got our guys prepared.”
Stanford didn’t make any changes to the coaching staff after Taylor went 3-9 in his first season. The Cardinal was one of only seven teams that brought back its entire staff from 2023, and that familiarity might allow Taylor to delegate more responsibility in the future.
“I have a really good offensive staff,” Taylor said. “Some of the guys I had not worked with and we’re getting more familiar with each other. As you’ve got that continuity you get to be on the same page, so I’m feeling like we’re headed in the right direction for sure, but I’ll always evaluate that and make sure I’m giving everything I can to all three of those jobs, and if I can’t then I need to adjust.”
There were some bright spots in the Big Game. Stanford didn’t turn the ball over for the first time in 15 games, and outran its opponent for the first time in seven games.
But the Cardinal threw for only 141 yards, its eighth game with fewer than 200 passing yards. Thanks to a trick play and an aborted field goal attempt that forced the holder to throw a desperation pass, Stanford had more players attempt a pass (four) than catch a pass (three).
Junior quarterback Ashton Daniels is averaging 144.8 passing yards a game in his 10 starts and has as many touchdowns as interceptions (nine).
Stanford’s Santa Clara County neighbors haven’t had the same issues. In its first season under Ken Niumatalolo, who formerly ran a run-heavy offense at Navy, San Jose State (6-5) has more passing yards (319.8) than Stanford has total yards (318.9).
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That trend may continue Friday. The Cardinal ranks 127th in the FBS in passing yards allowed (271.7) as its young secondary has been picked apart, so the front seven will need to generate pressure to keep the Spartans from having time to operate. Stanford did record a season-high six sacks against Cal.
Senior defensive lineman Zach Buckey said it was important for the Cardinal to finish on a high note, especially after last year’s season ended with a 56-23 loss to Notre Dame.
“One of the biggest things for us this last offseason was we got drubbed by Notre Dame in our last game and it was our senior night and we did not send those guys out the way they deserve,” Buckey said.
“If we win this game we’ll be 4-8, and that’s not the goal we set at the beginning of the year, but at the same time, it’ll feel better to go out with a win than a loss. We’ll look back in March and say we’re really glad we won that last game, and we’re going to be glad the way we sent our seniors off right.”