STANFORD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 27, 2026

Brent Key

Postgame Media Conference

Stanford 34, Georgia Tech 27

BRENT KEY: Disappointing loss. Disappointing performance. In a lot of ways. Played some decent football. Played some bad football. Bad football gets you every time.

Bye week this week, and a lot of things that have to take place, a lot of things we have to adjust and change and fix, but it's got to be a wholesale (indiscernible) with everyone.

Like we got to get our -- get it together, all right, and as a coaching staff, right? Everyone has to start being accountable to things like this, right? To all look ourselves in the mirror about how our team played, how our positions plays. That's what we talked about before the game. Look yourself in the mirror after the game.

Did you play the way you were supposed to play? Did your position play the way it was supposed to play on either side of the ball and as a team?

Penalties, red zone touchdowns both sides, affecting the quarterback, protecting the quarterback, displacing passes, pointes per possession in the third quarter. Second half in general, turnover in the red zone.

We had a lot of fans come out here to the west coast to watch us play, and we got a lot of work to do, a lot of things to do, so...

Not a performance to be anything happy about when you play runs that are bad, right? So it's on everyone and we all have to move forward, right?

Meaning put our heads down and get this thing going the right way, so questions?

Q. As an offensive line coach, the play was bad, right guard was particularly bad again. What do you do? How do you fix it, the penalties and then just assignments for guys?

BRENT KEY: I think it was five, six, seven penalties, so I told everybody this, right, I'll play freshmen and develop freshmen, right, guys who are down for the long haul, guys that will give what they have, right?

We also have to adjust some things schematically when you have guys down. Can't continue to do the same things and expect things different.

Injuries are part of the game. It's part of the game. So, yeah, we don't have much confidence to run the ball a yard, short yardage, and that ain't very good, so...

Q. Defensively in the third quarter (No microphone.) What happened there?

BRENT KEY: Yeah, Quan went down in the second quarter. Was out for the rest of the game, and we did not execute. When I say execute, we didn't (indiscernible) guys. Three of them, one-on-ones, man, zone matchup coverage. Then we made some adjustments to put more help back there, cloud it up, and still had two passes thrown in there.

So again, injuries aren't an excuse. They're part of game. We make sure the guys are prepared to go, but got guys out there capable of doing the job. Try and make so the adjustments with them. (Indiscernible.)

(Indiscernible) pass rush, where we had -- right? Pass rush affecting by the quarterback and affecting (indiscernible.) We were not able to accomplish that.

Q. (Regarding people being accountable.)

BRENT KEY: Everybody. Everybody in the program. We talked about it before the game. Everybody being accountable and looking themselves in the mirror after the game. We talked about it at halftime, everyone being able to look in the mirror and be accountable for everything we do.

That was not saying (indiscernible) from players, coaches, staff, me, everyone. Everyone has to be accountable.

Q. Is that part the problem, lack of it or not enough accountability?

BRENT KEY: In terms of?

Q. I guess players, coaches aren't taking enough responsibility for their play or execution?

BRENT KEY: We'll find out when we sit down and talk about it. I'm very accountable, right? At the same time, right, that's why I said it, everyone needs to be.

It's not working, so I'm not going to sit there and list my pet peeves. They were supposed to do this, that. When I watch the game tape, the first thing I say is what did we not do to put the players in position? How many times did we rep it? Do this? Do that?

You got to look at yourself first. That's what we'll try to do.

Q. Have you identified anything personally that you know you need to change?

BRENT KEY: Personally?

Q. I meant as a coach.

BRENT KEY: No. (Indiscernible.) We changed things this week. We adjusted things this week. One thing I can change is the people on the field that don't execute, right, get penalties to extend drives, discipline penalties. I can change that.

That goes back to accountability really with everyone.

Q. It seem like before games involving losses, (indiscernible.) Seems like guys were so high and things -- the momentum just kind of slowed down on the field. Just how do you right the ship? Is there something you're seeing in particular that's really frustrating?

BRENT KEY: Not sure. Those things need to be fixed, changed, adjusted.

Q. (Regarding penalties in the second half.) (Indiscernible.) That's kind of weird. Have you thought about switching some of that stuff up?

BRENT KEY: I have thought about everything, and I'll think about everything this week. I think a playcaller being upstairs or downstairs has no effect. That has nothing to do with the timing. That was to do with a communication thing on the field.