Stanford DL Clay Patterson & QB Ben Gulbranson look ahead to SMU 

On Tuesday, Stanford grad student defensive lineman Clay Patterson and grad student quarterback Ben Gulbranson shared their thoughts on Saturday’s 9:00 AM PT game at SMU. Below are some thoughts and takeaways. 

VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference | SMU Week| Clay Patterson & Ben Gulbranson 

Coming off a bye week, Patterson feels like it went well for them. All about focusing on getting better as a defense. Going back to the fundamentals and getting healthy. That was the focus during this time. 

It really helped to enter the bye week coming off a win. That win over San Jose State gave them a lot of confidence. There was a great moment where they were waiting the locker room to celebrate with Ben Gulbranson. It definitely did a lot to their confidence to pick up that win. 

On SMU’s offense, Patterson said they do a really good job doing what they do. Good tight ends and a great quarterback in Kevin Jennings. They’re gonna have to really contain him and then do a good job of forcing field goals, which has been a strength of theirs this year. For them on the defensive line, it has to start with their rush lanes. 

The SMU game will be a homecoming for Patterson as he’s from the Dallas area. He’s excited to have a lot of friends and family in attendance. He also knows a couple of guys on the SMU team. He’s excited to play in an environment that he grew up in. 

On making the jump from the Ivy League level to the FBS level, Patterson said the key to his success has been preparation. Watching film, studying your assignment more, and getting in the playbook more has been the biggest things he’s been working on. He said as he’s dived even more into those things, that’s allowed him to have success. 

On linebacker Matt Rose, who will miss the first half against SMU due to a targeting call against San Jose State, Patterson said he does a great job of commanding the defense. He said until Rose is back for the second half, Sam Mattingly, Hunter Barth, and Zach Johnson are gonna have to be the guys who really step up. 

Regarding the early kickoff time, Patterson said it’s all about the mindset that you’re gonna beat the guy in front of your regardless of kickoff time. He didn’t seem too worried about it, which is a good thing. I still think it’ll be a challenge, but that’s the right mentality to have. 

Switching gears to Gulbranson, he said SMU has a collection of a lot of talented players on defense. He said they have a good scheme and a good home crowd. He’s excited to compete against them knowing they’re going to be challenging. 

On his deep ball, Gulbranson said you try to throw it as high and far as possible. That gives you more margin for error. That’s the approach with those. That makes a lot of sense but wasn’t something I’ve heard before. At least not put it that way. 

Regarding how he’s improved over the season, Gulbranson said he’s gained more confidence as he’s collected more live reps. All about taking it game by game and sticking with his process. The more meeting time he has with his receivers and also getting more comfortable with the scheme, the better he gets. He feels like as he dives more into the process, everything simply clicks a lot more. That’s really the key. 

Gulbranson was honored that his 444 passing yards against San Jose State was the third most in a single game by a Stanford quarterback in program history. He is well aware of the legacy of Stanford quarterbacks and is honored to follow in their footsteps. As for his quarterbacks coach Thomas Merkle, Gulbranson loves how supportive he is and knows how to teach the position. He loves diving into the position with Merkle and learning from him. It sounds like they have a great relationship. 

Another key to Gulbranson’s success has been his experience. He mentioned that playing six years of college football exposes you to all sorts of situations. He’s been a part of crazy finishes both in games he’s won and lost. Just having all those experiences and seen so much football has tremendously helped him settle in and play calm, cool, and collected in big moments like he did against San Jose State. That’s one of the main reasons he won the starting job in the first place. He has all that experience and that certainly has paid off for him as the season has gone on. 

One guy who has been key to Gulbranson’s success is center Fisher Anderson, who is playing the position for the first time this season. Gulbranson said Anderson has done a great job of making the right calls and having the command of the offensive line unit. One of the smartest players he’s been around and does a great job diving into the game from the mental side while also having great physical tools. Anderson has made him feel a lot more comfortable and confident, which is what you need in your center if you are a quarterback. 

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