Stanford will be severely shorthanded at running back when it faces the top-ranked rushing defense in the Pac-12 on Saturday.
Starter Austin Jones and backups E.J. Smith and Casey Filkins will all be out for Stanford (2-1, 1-0 Pac-12) against No. 24 UCLA at Stanford Stadium (3 p.m., Pac-12 Network).Junior Nathaniel Peat will be the Cardinal’s only scholarship running back against the Bruins (2-1, 0-0), who have allowed just 63 rushing yards a game.
Sophomore walk-on Caleb Robinson, who doesn’t have any collegiate carries, the only other running back listed on the depth chart for Stanford, which has ranked 10th in rushing in the Pac-12, even with everyone available.
“Got some holes to fill there,” Cardinal coach David Shaw said this week. “But a couple years ago we were really thin and injuries like that would have been really brutal for us, but right now we have good depth.”
Peat was the Missouri 100-meter state champion in high school and his parents both ran track at the University of Wisconsin. He showed his top-end speed against USC earlier this season on an 87-yard TD run, the fifth-longest rushing play in program history. He has averaged 12.1 yards on his 14 carries this season after averaging 7.0 yards on 29 carries in 2020.
“We’re gonna miss those three guys but Nate Peat’s also showing everybody what he has, and he’s got some juice, he’s got explosion,” Shaw said. “Obviously he’s going to carry a larger load but we have other options too so we’re not going to play Nate every single play. It’ll be a challenge, but at the same time, an opportunity for those guys to step in and make some plays.”
Smith was clearly injured at the end of last Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt and is expected to be out a few weeks. Shaw did not say why Jones and Filkins will be unavailable on Saturday, but said they might be back the following week against Oregon.
The absences at running back will also cause a reshuffling in the return game since Peat normally returns kickoffs and Filkins returns punts. Both return roles will now be filled by sophomore receiver Bryce Farrell.
The running back situation will put more pressure on quarterback Tanner McKee, who is 2-0 since being named the starter. The 6-foot-5 sophomore from Southern California has completed 71.4 percent of passes this season for 570 yards and five TDs, with no turnovers.
“There’s a reason why he was a top-five quarterback coming out of high school,” Shaw said. “Size, athleticism, strong arm, quick release, leadership, accuracy. He’s got all the tools.”
The offense has scored 40 points in back-to-back road games against USC and Vanderbilt under McKee, the first time Stanford has done that since 2016 (at Oregon and Cal).
Home sweet home
Stanford will play at home for the first time since a Nov. 14, 2020 loss to Colorado. By comparison, UCLA has had seven home games during that span.
The Cardinal went 6-1 during their program-record seven-game stretch away from home, with four straight road wins to end 2020, a neutral-site loss to Kansas State to begin this season, and then wins at USC and Vanderbilt.
Fans will return to Stanford Stadium for the first time in 665 days, dating back to a loss to Notre Dame on Nov. 30, 2019.
“Colorado just felt like a scrimmage against another team,” junior cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly said. “You lose that element of college football without the fans, without the noise and stuff like that. It just brings fun to the game again so we’re really excited for that, especially to see the locker room again.”