Stanford head coach Frank Reich looks ahead to San Jose State

On Monday, Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich shared his thoughts on Saturday’s upcoming game against San Jose State and lessons they can take from the loss at Virginia. Below are some thoughts and takeaways. 

VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference | San Jose State Week | Frank Reich 

First off, Reich seems to feel a lot of the mistakes they made against Virginia were mental. He’s hopeful that they can clean those up. Mental errors are always things that are correctable. Their defense as a whole wasn’t great. Part of that was a credit to Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris, who had a great game. But Reich feels like they could have done better containing him and Virginia’s offense. The pass rush wasn’t where it needed to be. That said, he does feel confident in their ability to bounce back and fix those mistakes. 

On quarterback Ben Gulbranson, Reich said he’s gaining confidence. His deep ball has been strong and that was a major plus against Virginia. They’re hoping to continue to make that a weapon. All about giving him the protection he needs to make those plays. Reich had a lot of fun watching Gulbranson make those throws. 

Building off that, Reich said general manager Andrew Luck continues to meet with Gulbranson on a weekly basis to help him grow. He’s working with all the quarterbacks some and staying engaged there. So that was good to hear. 

Reich has a lot of respect for San Jose State. Their quarterback Walker Eget is having a strong season and is capable of making plays with his arm. He’s somebody who they’re going to have to contain. All around, a well balanced offensive attack. He said the defense can give them trouble. Strong linebacker unit, a solid secondary, and an active front seven as a whole. San Jose State has their attention and they know they’re going to have to play well in order to beat them. Well coached, etc. 

Reich is aware of the rivalry aspect. He said they’re excited about it. He has fun with it and that makes this week matter more for them. 

Reich feels like there’s a lot they can learn from last year’s game against San Jose State, which they lost. Even though there’s some differences from last year to this year, there’s enough carry over, that it’s been a good use of their time to watch film from that game and take notes on what worked and what didn’t work. 

Reich praised the speed of wide receiver Bryce Farrell. A guy who has worked really hard on his routes and his all-around game. He isn’t just a deep threat. He’s a guy who does a lot of things well across the board. 

Reich said they’re happy to have five home games left and only three road games left. He said being 0-3 on the road they need to get figured out, but they are happy to be back home and play in front of their home fans. 

Regarding managing the end of games when it’s out of reach and weighing the pros and cons of guys possibly getting hurt versus staying in rhythm, he said it’s on a game-by-game basis. They were thinking about possibly bringing in a different quarterback to relieve Gulbranson, but he made the decision to keep Gulbranson in to keep him in a good rhythm, but a future game might go differently in that sense. 

When asked about watching game film with the team, Reich said accountability is the big thing. You have to be willing to hold each other accountable. Address what went well, what didn’t, and hold each other accountable. As an extension of that, treat every opponent the same. Don’t worry about who is favored. Just follow the game plan and stick together. 

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