CU Buffs opponent preview: Stanford begins new era with Troy Taylor

Once the standard bearer in Pac-12 football, Stanford is now trying to figure out how to prevent being left behind.

The 12-year David Shaw era included a lot of wins and some dominant football, but the era came to a close after a second consecutive 3-9 season last year. Troy Taylor is now leading the way as the Cardinal aim to find a competitive edge.

This summer, BuffZone will preview each of Colorado’s opponents for the 2023 season and in this installment, we look at Stanford, which visits the Buffs on Oct. 13.

When Colorado entered the Pac-12 in 2011, Stanford was coming off a 12-1 season. The Cardinal won three Pac-12 titles from 2011-15, and won at least eight games in Shaw’s first eight years. In the last four years, however, Stanford went 14-28.

“It’s been rough for them,” said Jon Wilner, who covers the Pac-12 for the San Jose Mercury News. “I think it’s not all one thing. It would be easy if it was just one thing, but it’s not.”

Wilner said staffing decisions and recruiting have been questionable, but there are other issues plaguing Stanford, too.

“There’s things going on, bigger picture, regarding college football that are working against the program that are really more of an institutional issue than something specific to the football program itself,” Wilner said. “The transfer portal, NIL, everything that is pushing college football further toward a professional model economically is working against Stanford. You can’t evaluate their performance on the field just based on the traditional metrics for coaching, for staffing, for recruiting, for strategy, game plan. You have to take the other stuff into account.”

Wilner said Stanford had institutional issues in 2006, as well. The team was coming off a 1-11 season and hired Jim Harbaugh. Stanford went 20-6 in his last two years, setting the table for the Shaw era. Stanford made changes then that helped Harbaugh.

“We’ll see if they change (in the future),” Wilner said. “Competitors are adapting; they have chosen not to.”

In the meantime, Taylor and Stanford still have to try to figure out how to win. A highly regarded offensive mind who was the offensive coordinator at Utah from 2017-18, Taylor spent the past four years as the head coach at Sacramento State. He led the Hornets to a 30-8 record.

“I thought Troy Taylor was a very good hire,” Wilner said. “I think he’s a good coach and I think he’s going to make upgrades immediately. We’ll see the fruits of that in terms of their tactics and the coaching. And their recruiting has improved immediately. … I just don’t know what the ceiling is going to be his first year or two.”

Traditionally, Stanford has been an old-school team that beats teams with a strong run game and good defense. Taylor has used a more high-octane offense.

“Can they succeed with more of a Troy Taylor offense? It’ll be interesting to see because that kind of offense relies more on the perimeter play,” Wilner said. “Receiver has traditionally not been a position that Stanford has been able to recruit very well.”

Taylor faces a tall task this year after five offensive linemen – with a combined 132 starts – left for the transfer portal. Several of the top players on defense from last year transferred out, too. And, 2022 starting quarterback Tanner McKee is now in the NFL.

In all, only five starters are back. Former four-star recruit Ari Patu, who threw nine passes last year, could be the starting quarterback, but the competition will be wide open – as it will be at most spots.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect Taylor to get this team into a bowl game (this year),” Wilner said. “I don’t know that even 5-7 is reasonable. But they should be a little bit more competitive than they’ve been. … He needs three or four years. With other schools you can get the ship turned in one or two years because of the transfer portal, but Stanford is still on the old time frame.”

Stanford Cardinal

Head coach: Troy Taylor, 1st season (30-8 career)

2022 season: 3-9, 1-8 Pac-12

Series with CU: Tied 6-6

The Game

Who: Stanford Cardinal at Colorado Buffaloes

When: Friday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m., ESPN

Where: Folsom Field in Boulder

5 Guys to Watch

• Edge David Bailey: Had an impressive freshman year, finishing fourth on the team with 46 tackles and leading the Cardinal with 8.5 tackles for loss. He also had 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

• LB Gaethan Bernadel: A transfer from Florida International, he led the Panthers with 103 tackles last year, while adding eight tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. In two seasons at FIU, he had 147 tackles, 11.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks.

• QB Ari Patu: A former four-star recruit, Patu has played sparingly in his two seasons with the Cardinal, but could be the starter this year. He has completed 14-of-25 passes for 113 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He threw nine passes as a sophomore last year.

• RB EJ Smith: Played in only two games last year because of injury but had impressive numbers, rushing for 206 yards and three touchdowns, while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

• TE Benjamin Yurosek: One of only two returning starters on offense, he was second-team All-Pac-12 last year. He caught 49 passes for 445 yards and a touchdown. As a sophomore in 2021, he caught 43 passes for 658 yards and three touchdowns.

Good to know

• In addition to head coaching duties, Taylor will be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Cardinal.

• Bobby April III was hired as defensive coordinator – his first job as a coordinator. He spent the last five years coaching outside linebackers at Wisconsin. From 2011-16, he worked in the NFL, filling different roles for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

• Although Patu is the projected starter at quarterback, he will have plenty of competition. Sophomore Ashton Daniels and incoming freshman Myles Jackson will also compete, as will transfer Justin Lamson (who didn’t play a snap in two seasons at Syracuse). As a group, they’ve thrown only 31 passes in college – 25 by Patu and six by Daniels.

• Stanford won five straight against the Buffs from 1991-2015 (including the first three as Pac-12 rivals), but CU has won three straight against the Cardinal. The two teams haven’t played since 2020.

• Senior kicker Joshua Karty earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors last year after making all 18 field goal attempts – including a long of 61 yards – and going 24-of-25 on extra points. During his career, he is 28-of-33 on field goals and 51-of-52 on extra points.

• Running back Casey Filkins returns after leading the team in rushing last year. He finished with 478 yards and four touchdowns, while averaging 3.9 yards per carry.

• After winning back-to-back road games early in 2021 (at USC and Vanderbilt), the Cardinal have gone 1-8 on the road. The only win was a 16-14 upset at Notre Dame last season.

Portal movement

Academic restrictions make it difficult for Stanford to bring players in, but plenty have left the program. The Cardinal lost 21 players this offseason, including several significant contributors. They lost left tackle Walter Rouse (Oklahoma), right tackle Myles Hinton and center Drake Nugent (both to Michigan), left guard Jake Hornibrook (Duke) and tackle Barrett Miller (California). They also lost several top defensive players in Levani Damuni (Utah), Jonathan McGill (SMU), Ricky Meizan (Virginia) and Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Indiana), as well as punter Ryan Sanborn (Texas). Only four transfers were added, with Bernadel (FIU) being the key newcomer. Offensive linemen Trevor Mayberry (Princeton) and Alec Bank (Harvard) are projected starters, while Lamson will compete at quarterback.