Stanford Football: Top 3 takeaways from Week 1 victory over Northwestern
By Justin Fried
1. Injuries threaten to derail the season
Unfortunately, there was no bigger takeaway from Saturday’s game than the injuries suffered by two of Stanford’s top offensive players.
No one will be talking about the improved running game. Nor will they be talking about the team’s dominant defense. Instead, the focus will be on the health of quarterback K.J. Costello and offensive tackle Walker Little.
Costello, as previously mentioned, went down at the very end of the first half as a result of a brutal hit to the helmet. The dark horse Heisman candidate was quickly rushed to the locker room and would not return to the game.
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Meanwhile, Little was injured much later on the Cardinal’s last offensive drive of the afternoon. The potential first-round draft pick’s left knee buckled while blocking on a run play and he had to be helped off the field.
Both of these injuries appeared particularly gruesome at the time and the team has yet to release any updates on either Costello or Little’s status.
Costello would obviously be a major loss as the young signal-caller was looking like Stanford’s best quarterback since Andrew Luck and was primed for a huge 2019 season after breaking out last year.
As for Little, this was supposed to be the year that he returned to form and came back healthier and better than ever. Now, each of their seasons appears to be in doubt.
With an incredibly challenging upcoming schedule, Stanford could ill-afford to be without their two best offensive players.
And if they are absent Costello and Little for those games, Stanford’s season could be derailed before it ever really got started.