Stanford will be without Ed Reynolds for the first half of next week’s game against Washington State after the senior All-American was ejected for targeting Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly on Saturday night.
ASU had a first and 10 at the Stanford 11-yard line with about nine minutes to play when Kelly went back to pass and looked to his right. He got the pass off before a blitzing Reynolds meet him with a punishing head-on hit. Reynolds was flagged, ejected and suspended for the first half against WSU.
Stanford should be able to survive without Reynolds against the Cougars, although Mike Leach‘s five-wide-receiver style generally requires a lot of defensive backs who can cover.
The Cardinal will probably miss Reynolds more for his run support and hard-nosed tackling ability. Coming into the game against ASU, he led the team with 17 tackles.
Reynolds might be the most high-profile player to date to miss a half due to a targeting penalty.
