Backups hold starring roles in spring game
The starting quarterback and tailback won’t play, Keller Chryst because he’s rehabbing from knee surgery and Bryce Love because he’s recovering from an undisclosed injury.
So the Stanford offense might be somewhat handicapped in Saturday’s 1 p.m. Cardinal and White Spring Game at Cagan Stadium as the soccer/lacrosse venue gives way to the big fellows for the second straight spring.
Head coach David Shaw said his vision for a perfect spring game is: “Offense makes some plays, defense makes some plays, and everybody comes out healthy.”
Last year’s game, a 43-31 win for the offense during which Chryst and Ryan Burns each threw two touchdown passes, was certainly more entertaining than the 2015 game, a 23-7 win for the defense, which didn’t allow a touchdown until the 12th possession.
In what Shaw concedes is “a funky scoring system,’’ the defense collects points by stopping the offense at various points in the field, starting at the offense’s 35-yard line. The less said about the complicated point structure, the better.
Fans are better off concentrating on the duel between Burns and redshirt freshman K.J. Costello. Shaw has said that Chryst will be the starter when he’s healthy. But as Stanford has seen from the examples of Josh Nunes in 2012 and Burns in 2016, the starting assignment isn’t written in stone.
Cameron Scarlett, the brother of former Cal and Stanford defensive lineman Brennan Scarlett, is expected to be the No. 2 tailback and short-yardage specialist. Redshirt freshmen running backs Trevor Speights and Dorian Maddox also will be front and center in the spring game.
“All three guys are hungry,” Shaw said. “They’re taking advantage of the reps they’re getting.”
Speights had 9,868 career rushing yards and 120 touchdowns in high school in McAllen, Texas. Maddox led Baltimore’s Gilman School to two state titles. One of his main blockers, tackle Devery Hamilton, joined him on the Farm and will also get an extended look Saturday.
With the backup tailbacks and with Burns and Costello calling the signals, “our offense is doing just fine,” guard/ tackle David Bright said. As for the line, he said, “The big focus for us has been (pass protection) obviously because last year we weren’t great. … Right now we’re projecting upward. We just can’t fall back.”
In tight ends Dalton Schultz, Kaden Smith and Scooter Harrington and wideouts Trent Irwin, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Donald Stewart, Burns and Costello should have plenty of targets. Stewart caught just two passes last season, but Shaw said the 6-foot-4 freshman is “a step ahead of where he would have been if he had redshirted.”
The defense has a crowd of returning players, led by lineman Harrison Phillips, linebacker Kevin Palma, safety Justin Reid and cornerbacks Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder. Holder won’t play Saturday because of an injury.
The football game is part of “Cardinalpalooza,” a six-sport festival on the Farm that also includes softball (vs. Arizona State, noon), tennis (Washington, noon), beach volleyball (Boise State, noon; Washington, 3 p.m.), women’s water polo (No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 3 UCLA, 3 p.m.) and baseball (UCLA, 4 p.m.). Only the baseball game has an admission charge. The football game will be followed by an autograph session with the players.