Stanford Cardinal starting QB for Week 4: Who is Troy Taylor's QB1 for game against Syracuse Orange?

Coach Troy Taylor's Stanford Cardinal will travel cross country to arrive in Syracuse and take on the undefeated Orange in their backyard on Friday at JMA Wireless Dome. This will be the first time these two meet each other in their history. For the Cardinal, it will be their first ACC matchup after they entered the Atlantic Coast Conference along with SMU and Cal.

Ashton Daniels has started the first two games for the Cardinal. They lost their opener against TCU before rebounding with a win last week against the Cal Poly Mustangs.

Will Ashton Daniels continue to start for Stanford in Week 4?

With a whole week to rest, Ashton Daniels had enough time to iron out any niggles he carried from the first two games. He is expected to start and take the majority of snaps for the Cardinal on Friday.

However, there's a possibility of also seeing former Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown get some action at center. He made his debut in a blowout win against the Cal Poly Mustangs, where he connected 7 for 7 for 97 yards while also getting the score for the team.

“There’s a reason the guy was 44-2 [in high school],” Taylor said about Brown. “He’s a really talented player, and he’s gonna be a good one.”

Ashton Daniels' performance in the first two games of the 2024 season

In Week 1's 34-27 loss to TCU, Ashton Daniels was sacked four times as his offensive line missed out on several occasions to give him ample amount of him to make air raids. Despite that, he threw for 163 yards, including one touchdown and an interception on 17 of 35 pass attempts. He also rushed for 87 yards on 17 carries.

The following game, in a Week 2 blowout win over the Mustangs, Daniels redeemed himself by throwing for a high percentage, completing 19 of 23 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 31 yards on nine carries.

“The thing about Ashton is that he’s one of the biggest, strongest and fastest guys on our team, and he’s tough,” Taylor said. “But the other side of that is that we got to give him more balance with runs to the running back.”

Troy Taylor expects Ashton Daniels to come up big against the undefeated Orange when they take the field on the road in Syracuse.