Stanford coach Troy Taylor said that starting quarterback Ashton Daniels is “day-to-day” heading into the 126th Big Game Saturday at Stanford Stadium.
Taylor doesn’t disclose specific injury information, but the sophomore appeared to hurt his left hand while being tackled in the second quarter last week against Oregon State. Daniels re-entered the game for the second half, but seemed to aggravate the injury after being tackled again midway through the fourth quarter and never returned.
Daniels has thrown for 1,346 yards in the past five games, the fifth-most in the Pac-12, and his 58 carries over the last three games are the 11th-most by a QB in the FBS in that stretch.
In the last month, Daniels led a 29-point second-half comeback against Colorado and compiled 448 yards against Washington, the second-most total yards in a game by a Stanford QB. But he has struggled in his past two games, throwing for 115 yards on 31 attempts against Washington State and throwing three interceptions against Oregon State.
If Daniels isn’t available, Stanford does have an experienced backup. Sophomore Justin Lamson has started against Oregon and Colorado and has appeared in all but one game this season, mainly as a running option.
Lamson transferred in from Syracuse and was engaged in a quarterback competition with Daniels that went into the season. He has the most carries of any Pac-12 quarterback and leads the Cardinal in carries (110), rushing yards (246) and rushing touchdowns (4). Against Oregon, Lamson had 22 carries, the most by a Pac-12 quarterback in a single game since 2017.
Whoever the starting quarterback is, they will try to reverse a troublesome offensive trend for Stanford (3-7, 2-6 Pac-12) against Cal (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12). The Cardinal hasn’t scored more than 24 points against the Bears since 2016.
Even at full strength, Stanford was going to be challenged this year after quarterback Tanner McKee went pro and four offensive line starters transferred out. But the offense has also been hit by significant injuries.
Top receiver John Humphreys has been out since the season opener, top tight end Benjamin Yurosek hasn’t played since Oct. 13, and Casey Filkins, who has the most yards of any Stanford running back, also won’t play against Cal.
On the season, Stanford is 108th in points per game and tied for 88th in yards per game. First-year coach Troy Taylor came to The Farm as an offensive specialist, but he said he hasn’t been able to fully implement his scheme yet because of the team’s inexperience.
“There’s been adaptations for sure,” Taylor said. “You could see that if you just look at my offense in the past and what we’ve done. You have to adapt and make sure you’re putting your guys in the situation to be successful. So no, I wouldn’t say it’s the offense that you’re gonna see in the future. You’ve seen parts of it. But as we grow and continue to bring in more and more players and develop it’ll look quite a bit different.”
