Three Things That Need to Improve for Stanford in Week 2

There were plenty of times at which it seemed like Stanford would pull off a season-opening upset against TCU . The Cardinal took a seven-point lead into halftime, and pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, a lead they'd hold until just over three minutes remained in the game.

Of course, they were unable to hold on, but they showed enough promise to inspire questions of what changes could be made to make this season a special one. Let's talk about a few things that need to improve right away for Stanford as they prepare for Cal Poly in Week 2.

Downfield passing

This one's simple; it's hard to compete with a quarterback who doesn't show some degree of accuracy on reasonable throws. Daniels had his moments, but missed plenty of must-have throws en route to a completion percentage of just 49%. With a star receiver like Elic Ayomanor to maximize, it's absolutely essential that Daniels- or whoever plays quarterback for Stanford- finds a way to be on target more reliably.

Play calling

To Daniels' credit, Troy Taylor's plays didn't always give him much of a chance. Too frequently, the route design put multiple Stanford players in the same spot, creating congestion or even allowing one defensive back to cover two receivers. Hopefully, this was an early season hiccup, as 2023 showed us that Taylor has plenty of fresher-looking plays in his arsenal- he just needs to do a better job of showing them off.

Related: How can Stanford maximize Elic Ayomanor?

The secondary

After providing almost no push last year, Stanford's defensive line looked much improved at times on Friday night. However, the secondary, which was supposed to be a relative defensive strength this year, did not pass the eye test. Too many times, it seemed too easy for TCU receivers to find space as Josh Hoover racked up 353 passing yards. This group will need more players to step up around the top corner, Collin Wright, the clear standout of the bunch against TCU.