STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 30, 2024

Troy Taylor

Postgame Media Conference

CU 34, Stanford 27

Q. Troy, what got Ashton the starting job ahead of the other two guys?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, I would say experience, consistency. You know, all three of them really had a good camp. I think we can win with all three of them.

But probably his experience and he's a good runner, dual threat guy. But all three of them could play.

Q. So what would you surmise happened in the second half? You guys looked good at halftime but then they had the advantage.

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, we had the lead late in the fourth quarter, so our guys battled. They're a good team, resilient. We were able to take the lead with six minutes left and we got to get a stop and then we got to go back and score again.

So just didn't finish it. I thought we did a good job being resilient. Obviously struggled offensively in the second after early on and were able to stay in this. Defense made some good stops. Just wasn't enough plays to come out with the win.

Q. Elic Ayomanor had a little bit of a quiet start and got ignited in the second half. Early on was it more what TCU was going and did you have to adjust and try to get him going in the second half?

TROY TAYLOR: They were up front; we struggled to protect. It starts with that. And then we got to win our routes versus man coverage and we got to throw the ball accurately.

It was really all three of those things. Especially when you're not running the ball really well, you got to be able to protect. They brought a lot of pressure and created some -- us getting rid of the ball probably earlier than we would like him to, have to.

But at the end of the day, all three of those phases, protection, winning routes, and throwing accurate balls we weren't good enough.

Q. Obviously not the result that you wanted in the opening game. There were a lot of positive takeaways from this game. What stands our to you on the positive front?

TROY TAYLOR: Resiliency. We got more turnovers that were big. That was great to see. Our defense created some turnovers. Really made a big difference.

And our guys keep competing and those are the positives for sure. Had a chance to win. Kenney kicked the ball really well. Just disappointing part is not being able to finish and make some plays down the stretch on both sides of the ball.

Q. What went into your thinking going for it in on those fourth down calls?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, we have analytics and we play the percentages. We trust that for the most part. It was a situation where it said it was our best interest to go for it. We converted some big fourth downs that I think kept us in the game. Always try to be aggressive.

Q. What could you guys have done more to get Sam Roush involved in the receiving game? Was that part the decision to have him block more?

TROY TAYLOR: No, he was in the progression, early in the progression on a number of concepts. Just either wasn't open or we didn't get him the ball. I would have to watch the tape.

He was definitely out in the pass game and he was a part of it. He had two catches.