Stanford may not have quarterback Tanner McKee when it faces Pac-12 South Division leader Utah Friday night at Stanford Stadium.
Cardinal coach David Shaw characterized McKee’s status as “questionable” on Tuesday. Shaw does not talk about specific injuries, and he did not disclose the reason for McKee’s potential absence. McKee played to the end of Saturday’s 20-13 loss to Washington, throwing an interception on a desperation heave with six seconds left as Stanford (3-5, 2-4) lost its third straight game.
“We’ll see over the next day or so if he’s going to be ready to go,” Shaw said. “Hopefully this gets resolved sooner than later, but as coaches we just prepare for every eventuality.”
McKee leads the Pac-12 with five games with at least three touchdowns. He’s completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 14 TDs and five INTs, and is 84 yards from becoming the third freshman in program history to reach 2,000 passing yards, following Andrew Luck (2009) and Chad Hutchinson (1996).
If McKee is unavailable, Shaw said that both Jack West and option QB Isaiah Sanders would play. West and McKee split time in the season opener against Kansas State before McKee was named the starter. West completed 8 of 12 passes with 76 yards and was intercepted twice in the loss, and hasn’t thrown a pass since then.
“Jack has been awesome,” Shaw said. “He’s just an unbelievable person, mature, smart, tough. Handled the quarterback controversy-slash-competition through training camp, handled Tanner being the starting quarterback. He doesn’t get as many reps typically during the course of the week but he takes advantage of all the reps that does get. I don’t worry at all about Jack. He’s been ready to step in the entire year so I know he’s ready to go.”
West has made one start in each of the past three seasons. He played as a freshman against UCLA when both K.J. Costello and Davis Mills were injured, and then started last year’s season opener at Oregon when Mills was unavailable because of COVID testing protocols. West is 0-3 in his career as a starter and Stanford has been outscored 93-37 in those games.
Sanders, who transferred from Air Force before last season, has run seven times for 13 yards and two TDs as a Wildcat QB in short-yardage situations. The sixth-year player hasn’t attempted a pass.
Whoever starts at QB should at least benefit from the return of Michael Wilson, who entered the season as Stanford’s most heralded receiver. Wilson is expected to make his season debut on Friday after being out with an undisclosed injury.
Source: www.mercurynews.com