STANFORD – On Stanford’s first play from scrimmage this season, E.J. Smith took a handoff, cut back to the left and ran upfield 87 yards for a touchdown, tied for the fifth-longest scoring run in program history.
But Smith also fumbled and had an offensive facemask penalty that pushed the Cardinal back to the 25 on first-and-goal, showing that Stanford has plenty to clean up from its 41-10 win over Colgate before hosting No. 14 USC on Saturday.
“We’re not just going to pat ourselves on the back,” coach David Shaw said after Saturday night’s win at Stanford Stadium. “We’re happy to win, but at the same time, we have higher standards than our execution was today.”
A redshirt sophomore making his first start after Stanford’s top two running backs transferred, Smith finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Tanner McKee, the Cardinal’s second-year starter, completed 22 of 27 pass attempts for 308 yards and two touchdowns to senior Michael Wilson, who had five catches for 82 yards.
But Stanford (1-0) allowed Colgate (0-1), a 40-point underdog from the FCS, to stay in the game early by fumbling three times in the first 16 minutes. The third fumble, by punt returner Casey Filkins, was recovered in the end zone as the Raiders tied the score at 7-7 one play into the second quarter.
Still, Shaw was proud of his team’s resiliency. Wilson bounced back after dropping his first target, Filkins scored a touchdown, linebacker Stephen Herron recorded a 10-yard sack after missing a sack earlier, and linebacker Levani Damuni dropped a potential pick-6 but finished with a game-high 10 tackles.
“We didn’t play perfectly, but I love the fight,” Shaw said. “I love the fact that we came back and we fought back after making some errors early on, and ended up making some nice plays.”
SMITH’S START
Smith, the son of NFL great Emmitt Smith, saw linebackers overpursuing on his first carry, so he cut back through a hole opened by left tackle Walter Rouse and receiver Elijah Higgins and ran untouched to the end zone.
“I said it over the headset, ‘That’s how you start the season,’” Shaw said.
On one play, Smith equaled Stanford’s average rushing yards per game last season, which ranked in the bottom five of the FBS. Smith also caught five passes for 37 yards, including a nice one-handed grab, and returned the opening kickoff.
TURNOVERS
Instead of running away with the game early, the Cardinal couldn’t maintain possession of the ball. The team committed four turnovers, including a McKee interception on an overthrow, and had three fumbles on punt returns.
“We’re going to continue to emphasize ball security, taking care of the ball,” Shaw said. “And we’ve got a couple of nice drills for the guys that we haven’t done in a while to remind them how important that thing is.”
USC returned three interceptions for touchdowns in its 66-14 win over Rice earlier Saturday, so the Cardinal likely won’t be able to get away with giving the ball away so often next time.
HEALTH
Perhaps most important for Stanford, it didn’t appear to suffer any injuries that would keep players out against USC.
And players who missed significant time due to injuries last year, such as Wilson, Brycen Tremayne (four catches for 54 yards), John Humphries (four catches for 88 yards) and safety Jonathan McGill, looked fully healthy.
“This is the healthiest team that we’ve had probably in three years,” Shaw said. “A lot of work went into it. Good to see those guys go out there and fly around today.”
That’s good news for Stanford, who will need everyone on deck against the Trojans.
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