Stanford to be without Quenton Meeks, Alijah Holder, Daniel Marx vs. Washington
No. 7 Stanford will be missing both of its starting cornerbacks and its starting fullback for Friday's showdown at No. 10 Washington.
Both Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder were hurt during the Cardinal's 22-13 win over UCLA on Saturday, so Stanford will have to dig into its deep defensive backfield to replace them. Alameen Murphy and Terrence Alexander will start at cornerback instead, while Frank Buncom is expected to rotate in.
"We're facing a [Washington] team with a lot of speed, so we have to stay fresh," Stanford coach David Shaw said.
Fullback Daniel Marx also was hurt late against UCLA, and Shaw expects an equal mix of Chris Harrell and Reagan Williams to replace the bruiser against the Huskies.
Tight end Greg Taboada and offensive lineman Brandon Fanaika remain questionable.
The Cardinal had already received bad injury news earlier in the week, when wide receiver Francis Owusu was ruled out of the Washington game because of a concussion that he suffered on a helmet-to-helmet hit from UCLA's Tahaan Goodman. Pac-12 officials did not penalize the Bruins on the play, a non-call that Shaw strongly disagreed with during his Monday news conference. He advocated for changes in NCAA rules that would penalize all helmet-to-helmet contact.
The Pac-12 office responded with a statement about that play Tuesday, deeming Goodman's hit on Owusu legal.
"While there certainly was helmet-to-helmet contact, neither the game officials on the field or the replay officials called targeting because the contact was with the front of the helmet and not the crown (top) of the helmet," the conference statement read.
The Pac-12 also responded directly to Shaw's comments.
"Going forward, and in line with Coach David Shaw's concerns about this play, we expect additional discussion around the targeting rule during the offseason review process and will be an active participant in discussions to further reduce helmet-to-helmet contact," the league's release read.
