Stanford Linebackers Talk Goals and Game Plan Against Bill Belichick and UNC

Stanford football is gearing up for one of the most interesting tests of the season. The Cardinal take on North Carolina on the road in Chapel Hill with the hopes of keeping their bowl game possibilities alive this season.

Stanford on SI spoke with two star Stanford linebackers, Jahsiah Galvan and Tevarua Tafiti, learning more about what the Cardinal took away from the loss against Pitt, and previewing the upcoming game against the Tar Heels.

First, they spoke about positives and negatives regarding the Cardinal’s loss to Pitt the week prior. Galvan started it off, saying, “I think the guys are playing with great effort. I mean, obviously there were things that we could have done better. Some run fits, things we got to clean up, coverage where we could have been better.

"In the first half we played pretty well, pretty sound defense, gap wise, and all those things. So just trying to execute at a higher level this next week is the biggest thing.”

Tafiti came to a similar conclusion: “We played to the end, we had two to three turnovers towards the end of the game and I feel like that shows that we're a team that chose to play to the end. And then one thing that we can work off of is our tackling and just running to the ball, and also start pressuring our coverage and just get better at everything.”

Last Saturday, Galvan showed immense hunger on the field, making plays all over. He finished with seven tackles, but it felt like even more, considering his presence was felt every play.

“It's really just getting into that mode and just playing with high effort. You know, it's one of our standards. So every snap you go out there just trying to play with rolling effort and get out of the ground at all costs. So I was coming off an injury and started feeling particularly well against Pitt. So I was happy to be healthy and moving around out there as well.”

Tafiti spoke on the upcoming game against North Carolina, noting that quarterback Gio Lopez is a lefty, and will be a tough but fun matchup. “We're gonna have to take advantage, get a lot of hits on the QB, a very talented lefty mobile QB. So we're gonna have to get a lot of hits to slow down the game."

He also mentioned how awesome it will be to matchup against Tar Heel head coach Bill Belichick, a legend in his time in the NFL. “We know he's just gonna scheme really well, we're just gonna have to follow our rules and just be dominant with that. Yeah, he's a great coach, but we just got to focus like in any other game."

Finally, the two spoke on goals for the Cardinal against the Tar Heels. Galvan said, “as a linebacker room, if we want to be perfect in our run fits, I'd say the biggest thing, making sure to shut down the things they do just by being in the right spots and doing a great job watching film all week.

"So we're gonna have a good idea of what's coming. And the team goal is just execution. No silly mistakes. All 11 guys being on the same page throughout the whole game. And playing a complete game on defense, I'd say would be the biggest goal is the defense.”

Tafiti added on, “Obviously come out with a win, but also get a lot of pressure. And we just want to get as many turnovers, if we win the turnover battle, we pretty much win the game.”

Stanford’s linebacker room will be a key in a potential upset in Chapel Hill this afternoon, and Galvan and Tafiiti could be X-factors.

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