Stanford head coach Troy Taylor on the Cardinal’s Game 1 performance, and facing USC and Caleb Williams

Stanford head coach Troy Taylor didn’t have much success in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a Cal quarterback in the late 1980s. As a true freshman, Taylor was knocked out of a 28-3 USC win due to a broken jaw. Two years later, No. 2 USC beat Taylor and the Golden Bears 35-3. Now, he’s leading the 1-0 Stanford Cardinal into the Coliseum to take on the No. 6 USC Trojans (2-0) in the first Pac-12 game of the season and the final conference clash between the longtime rivals.

Here’s a look at what Taylor said about his team, the Trojans, and the upcoming matchup during his weekly press conference. There are also comments from safety Scotty Edwards and offensive lineman Connor McLaughlin.

Taylor on playing in the Coliseum

“It’s a great place. I mean, there’s there’s obviously tons of history, not just football-wise. Tons of history. It’s a great place, great venue. A lot of good memories. Some not-so-good memories, you know, just your typical deal. But it’s always fun playing these guys, and it should be a great evening.

Taylor on lining up against USC quarterback Caleb Williams

“Really talented. The thing that, when you watch him on tape, he’s really hard to get on the ground. I mean, he’s a difficult tackle. So he extends plays and then obviously he has the ability to make every throw. So when you’re trying to cover for eight, nine seconds, it makes it difficult. Very talented guy.”

“You’ve got to try and keep him in the pocket. That’s one of those things it’s really easy to say, but hard to achieve. I mean, he’s good in the pocket. So you’ve got to get pressure on him, but try and contain him. The elongated plays are really difficult to cover just because it’s difficult to cover guys for that long. But he’ll hurt you in the pocket as well. So he’s just a player that doesn’t really have any weaknesses. And he’s got exceptional talent around him, especially at the wide receiver spot. The slot wide receivers are really talented. So you’ve got to cover for a long time and you’ve got to try and contain a guy that is a great thrower and a great runner.”

Safety Scotty Edwards on Williams

“We all know he’s an amazing player. He can throw the deep ball. He’s hard to bring down. And so we’re gonna have to be really good in the fundamentals this week in tackling and especially tackling around the quarterback and getting him on the ground. We’re an aggressive defense. And so we’re going to bring pressure. And so as we have the opportunities, we’re going to need to make those count and get him on the ground.”

Taylor on the play of the Stanford defense against Hawaii

“I think we covered for a really long time. So, I thought our corners and our safeties did a nice job. There were times where they kept guys in and they had a little time to throw and I thought we hung in there. I thought we played pretty cleanly. I thought we played hard up front. Thought our ‘backers were good. You know, again, there’s tons we can improve. But as a starting point against a team that it’s pretty challenging throwing the football, I was I was really proud of how we played.”

Edwards on the new defensive scheme under coordinator Bobby April III

“It’s a super aggressive defense. And it’s fun because different guys are able to play different spots around the field. I love being a safety and being able to blitz. I think that’s awesome. And just screwing with the quarterback’s eyes and his reads. I think it’s been a great defense. We’re still still trying to learn it and get better at it. So week by week, we’re going to get better. And this week we’ll be prepared for the Trojans.”

Taylor on his overall takeaways after beating Hawaii

“I thought all three phases of the game were great. You know, defensively, obviously, they get those guys can really throw the ball. We gave up some yards, but not a lot of points. And then offensively, we scored on six of our last seven times we got the ball. And then you know, [kicker] Josh [Carty] just is a weapon. We feel like we got three points once we crossed about the 40 if we take care of the ball. So yeah, I was very pleased with how they played. It was not perfect. We’ve got lots to improve. Hopefully that will happen this weekend. But in general, anytime you can go on the road and play well enough to win and overcome some challenges and momentum, you’re proud of your guys. We want to be a resilient team that just continues to play each play no matter what the situation is and show great resolve. And I thought I thought we did that.”

Taylor on calling designed runs for quarterback Ashton Daniels

“It is it is kind of a feel for the game, and week by week. Obviously, we will run the quarterback. Not everybody will do that. And so we’ll always have that in our arsenal. He’s a good runner. He’s very physical. He’s strong. He’s got good vision. And so we’ll pick our spots. Obviously, we ran the ball quite a few times. I don’t know if he’ll run it as much this week. We’ll just see kind of how it plays out. But, you know, the dual-threat quarterback is obviously something that gives us benefit in the run game with the additional hat. And he’s a good runner.”

Taylor on linebacker/defensive end David Bailey (3 sacks against Hawaii)

“We saw it all spring and all fall camp. He’s a very difficult guy to protect and difficult to block in the run game. He’s just so active. He’s so powerful. He’s quick. And in the way we utilize him in this defense, they have him do different things. He’ll drop into coverage. He’ll rush the passer. And you’ve got to account for him in protection, which obviously affects your offensive scheme. I know it did when we went against him. He’s a really special player. I wasn’t surprised at all by how he played. We’ve seen that for quite a while. So he’s a big part of our defense and he’ll be important on Saturday night.”

McLaughlin on going up against the USC defense

“They play really hard. Ten’s (Jamil Muhammad) got a really good motor. So it’s definitely gonna be a challenge. They do a lot of movement, a lot of stemming. Just got to play balanced and play smart. And as our coaches said earlier this week, if we’re all wrong, we’re all right. Just got to make some calls and live with that. And everything might not be picture-perfect. But if we’re all on the same page, it will work out.”

McLaughlin on playing USC

“Ultimately, this is why you play college football. And not to sound too cliche, but all the early workouts all the time invested, all the sacrifices you have to make…Like, 7:30pm primetime kickoff, rivalry game, packed house. That’s college football.”

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