STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 21, 2023

Troy Taylor

Postgame Media Conference

UCLA 42, Stanford 7

TROY TAYLOR: All right, hello.

Q. Opening thoughts on this one, how this went for you today?

TROY TAYLOR: Obviously, got off to another slow start. Really, really good football team. You just can't get behind like that.

We were able to obviously come back last week. This week we didn't start well in all three phases. Didn't do enough to get back in the second half.

Q. Penalties on drives in the first half, how do you avoid those sort of mistakes?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, really frustrating. We had a hold on a second and one. Our first drive that was pretty crucial. Then misalignment on a third down that we converted. We're a young team, but still you shouldn't be making those mistakes. You should know.

We got to work on it and continue to drill home how important it is. We work on it a lot. But we got to improve on that 'cause those were two really crucial penalties early in the game that kept putting their offense on the field. Obviously they got some explosive guys.

Q. On the slow starts, what do you need to do?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, eliminate poor penalties. I think early on we knew it was going to be difficult to run the ball. No one's really run the ball against these guys. They're really good up front. We were hoping we would be able to protect, get the ball out quickly, sustain some drives, get some points early on the board, hopefully their D-line would get a little bit tired, and it would be easier to pass protect because they're so explosive. We didn't sustain any drives offensively in the first half early on, then they got out to a big lead.

Q. Ben Yurosek, was he not available at all today?

TROY TAYLOR: He was not available.

Q. Casey Filkins?

TROY TAYLOR: He was dressed. We didn't feel that he was 100%. We didn't want to put him in harm's way, so we decided not to. He's a really good player. Just didn't feel he was fully 100%.

Q. Sometimes coaches will say a week of practice they can kind of tell how prepared their teams are. Did you get a sense this week that you were going to have a game that was this lopsided?

TROY TAYLOR: Well, no. We knew we had a huge challenge. They're really good. So I thought it was a really good, honestly, week of preparation. I thought our guys were focused. I thought they came in Tuesday and had a really good practice. They were locked in.

As I said before, our margin for victory is thin. We got to start out faster. We just have to. We can't put ourselves and give up long drives on offense, three-and-out, give them the ball back down. You start to get some momentum on the other side. It becomes difficult.

No, I didn't. Obviously great team. Hats off to them. But we got to start better.

Q. Anything specifically you could positively build off of from tonight's game?

TROY TAYLOR: I thought they continued to compete in the second half. They didn't stop. They continued to fight, which they've always done. We expect that. That's the expectation.

I thought our protection got a little bit better in the second half, which was good. We need to improve that part of our game.

I'm sure I'll see more things on film. But it doesn't feel like that right now.

Q. Did UCLA's offense attack you any differently than you expected with the change of quarterback?

TROY TAYLOR: Same scheme. Coach Kelly always has done a great job kind of slightly adjusting to the quarterback that he has. But it's the same scheme. They did a really good job.

I thought Gerbers was really poised. I thought they protected him really well. When we did get a little pressure, he did a good job of creating space and keeping his eyes downfield and running for some first downs.

But same scheme.

Q. Justin didn't play very much tonight. Did the game at Colorado give Ashton that separation?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, I mean, competition's always there at every position. But, yeah, Ash did a really good job last week. Not that Justin didn't. The moments that he played I thought were pivotal and key. Ash under some difficult circumstances did some good things. He wasn't perfect. He missed some throws. But he's really composed and continues to fight and compete.

But I do have confidence in both of those guys.

Q. Doesn't get any easier with Washington coming in next week. What is the message to the guys?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, doesn't get easier. Haven't watched a lot of Washington just because of kind of the different teams that we play. But seen them a little bit. They're outstanding. Another great quarterback. Very explosive team. They're playing right now, I think?

Q. They won.

TROY TAYLOR: Undefeated. Great football team. We get another opportunity. Our guys know we play a tough schedule. That's what makes it so rewarding if you do play well and you win a game.

But yeah, we'll lick our wounds and we will be ready to compete and get back after it. We're excited to have an opportunity to play against one of the top teams in the country.

Q. Tiger Bachmeier found the end zone for the first time. What did you see on that touchdown? Talk about his development.

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, Tiger was here in the spring. He was an early graduate. Right from the beginning he was able to absorb the offense and compete.

He's just a really competitive kid that gives you everything he's got. He's got good hands. He's good in traffic. He does some good things with the ball afterwards.

Yeah, I think it was pressure. Ash was able to deliver the ball. It was a great run after the catch.

Q. Ayomanor led the team in receptions and yards but also had the fumble and offensive PI.

TROY TAYLOR: He definitely made some plays. Looking down here, 13 targets, eight catches.

Yeah, the fumble was disappointing. It was a nice catch, a nice route. You got to put the ball away. He's trying to make something happen. He's trying to get the ball in the end zone.

We've done a pretty good job of taking care of the football. That time we did not. I think we had two turnovers on the day. Turned the ball over a number of times on fourth down, put our defense on a short field. That makes it tough on the defense to defend against a team like that on a short field.

Q. How do you keep drives going?

TROY TAYLOR: It's been something that we've been pretty good at. I think we've been 46% coming into this game on third down. We didn't get it done today.

Starts with me. Got to have a better plan. We knew it would be challenging with how much pressure they bring and how good they were up front. We shot ourselves a couple times on some pickups we could have had.

But, yeah, that was a huge factor in the game. We weren't able to sustain on third down, got off the field quickly. That was a big part of it.

Thanks, guys. Go Card.