STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 7, 2024

Ashton Daniels

Postgame Media Conference

Stanford 41, Cal Poly 7

Q. Just same question I asked Collin: What was the key to you guys flipping the switch in that third quarter there after a close first half?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, I think something that Coach Taylor has been preaching all week is just dominance from the getgo. Obviously kind of lacked that a little bit in the first half, but, you know, I think we came out of halftime super strong. We were very resilient coming out in the second half.

Obviously Tiger gets that long punt return touchdown; kind of gets the guys going; momentum is rolling; guys are starting to loosen up on the sidelines.

You know, I think we just took it and ran from there.

Q. We talked last week. Look, you guys know you hadn't won here in a while. I know you try to minimize it. Now that you have won here, how cool is it?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, obviously it feels great. You know, we have our little tradition of C-House after every win. It's a little more comforting when you finally get to do that at home once again. We haven't won here since I want to say my freshman year when we beat Arizona State. Just a little bit more special when you get to do that C-House chant in your own locker room.

Great for the guys, great for the community. You know, everyone that wants to see us be great, I think that we pleased them tonight. Yeah, I think the guys overall are just extremely happy for this win.

Q. The game was tied with under two minutes to go in the first half. You guys score a late touchdown. Talk about the importance of that drive going into halftime.

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, obviously it's pretty heartwarming when you have a two-minute drive you go down and convert on, get a touchdown. I think that's -- that was really, really big for us, because obviously Cal Poly gets the ball when we come out in the second half.

So being able to go in with a little bit of momentum into halftime, scoring that touchdown was really, really big for us. I think it allowed the defense to be a little bit more comfortable coming out with that first drive in the second half.

Yeah, credit to the defense. They were locked down tonight and they looked great.

Q. For the past season plus you and Justin have alternated. You've been the main guy for a while. He certainly has had his moments. Could you foresee a situation where you might have three guys in the mix the way Elijah Brown played in the fourth quarter?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, possibly. Who knows? Coach Taylor has a great offense, extremely creative, but Elijah (Brown) looked great out there tonight. We were so fired up for him on the sidelines, making big time throws, reads.

It's really exciting when you take a guy, really a young guy that early and put him under your wing, show him the ropes, get him going throughout camp, both of our camps (Spring and Fall), and you continue to see him grow and come out here and do what he did tonight was just extremely satisfying for us as a quarterback room as well as the whole offense.

Q. You had a nice throw to Sam Roush at the 2-yard line on one of those drives. Talk about how important it is to get him going more consistently in the offense?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, it's extremely important. Sam is a really, really big guy who has a fricking motor on him. He gets the ball in his hands and you know you're going to get five to ten possibly more sometimes yards after the catch.

Yeah, he's really, really big target for us. You know, I love when we continue to incorporate him more and more in the offense, get the ball in his hands, and let him do his thing.

Thank you, guys. Go Card.