Four things to know about TCU’s season opening opponent, the Stanford Cardinal

The college football season is officially back with the conclusion of Week 0 games over the weekend.

It didn’t take long for the sport to produce its first upset with Georgia Tech knocking off defending ACC champion Florida State on Saturday in Ireland. SMU also had to fight back to avoid a disappointing upset defeat to Nevada on the road.

The Horned Frogs will aim to avoid the upset bug when they travel to Stanford on Friday for the season opener. The first game is always one of the biggest of the year as it sets the tone for what is to come.

Regardless of what you think about Stanford’s talent level, playing on the road across the country in your first outing can make things tricky.

Here are things to know about TCU’s first opponent, Stanford:

A true No. 1 receiver

If you’re a die-hard college football fan you’ve probably heard of Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor. In a late primetime matchup against Colorado, Ayomanor overwhelmed likely first round pick Travis Hunter with a 13-reception, 294-yard performance that featured three touchdowns in the Cardinal upset win over the Buffaloes.

That game was enough to land Ayomanor on a number of draft boards entering the season. That wasn’t his only big game either as he had 146 yards against Washington, 122 against Oregon State and seven receptions for 58 yards against Notre Dame. Stanford quarterbacks combined to throw for 2,796 yards last season and 1,013 went to Ayomanor, that’s more than one-third of Stanford’s passing production.

Ayomanor is the only player returning at receiver or running back that had more than 500 yards last season. Stanford will try to feed Ayomanor early and often and test TCU’s cornerbacks with projected starter Avery Helm likely out for the opener.

QB controversy?

Stanford returns starting quarterback Ashton Daniels from a season ago. He was up and down in his first season as a starter completing just 58.8% of his passes along with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Four of those touchdowns came against Colorado and three more were against Hawaii and Sacramento State. Daniels provides value in the run game and had five games with double digit carries.

But Daniels’ grip on the starting position is shaky at best with Stanford believing it has its quarterback of the future waiting in the wings. Four-star freshman Elijah Brown was a huge pickup for Stanford last cycle. Brown starred at national powerhouse Mater Dei in Los Angeles, where he was named Player of the Year as a sophomore and led Mater Dei to two state championships. He’s the only quarterback in Mater Dei history to win multiple state championships and we’re talking about a school that has produced Bryce Young, Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley.

If Daniels struggles, don’t be surprised if Brown is given an opportunity against TCU. Justin Lamson could also receive meaningful reps for Stanford after the leading the team in rushing despite being a reserve quarterback.

Mismatch up front?

The biggest thing holding Stanford back last season was its offensive line. The Cardinal had one of the worst blocking units in the country as last season as the team allowed 41 sacks and the rushing attack averaged just 3.5 per carry. The lack of effectiveness up front is one reason why Stanford lost talented running back E.J. Smith, the son of Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, to the transfer portal during the off-season.

On the flip side the Cardinal didn’t bring in any transfers to bolster the offensive line which suggests second-year head coach Troy Taylor is banking on internal improvement from veterans and one of the freshman signees to able to provide depth up front. One of those true freshman could be Denton alum Hayden Gunter, a 6-foot-6 offensive tackle that was ranked the No. 105 player at his position by 247Sports.

Defensive struggle

As bad as the offensive line was for Stanford last season, the defense was even worse. Stanford allowed 461.7 yards per game and allowed 37.7 points per game, making its defense one of the worst in the country. There wasn’t one particular area Stanford was solid with teams averaging nearly five yards per carry and over 295 yards passing when they faced the Cardinal’s overmatched defense.

However, it doesn’t mean Stanford doesn’t have some talent on the unit. Many are high on cornerback Collin Wright and think he could be one of the most underrated in the ACC. Stanford returns its two leading tacklers in Gaethan Bernadel and Tristan Sinclair while also adding linebacker Jahsiah Galvin from Northern Iowa along with more two players from the portal.

While there’s talent in the back seven, Stanford’s defensive line remains a big question and will be a good test to see where TCU’s offensive line stands early in the season.