SYRACUSE, NY — — Emmet Kenney made a 39-yard field goal as time expired to help Stanford to a 26-24 victory over Syracuse on Friday night, giving the Cardinal their first win in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“I felt really confident out there, especially because I have the best snapper, holder and line blocker in the country,” Kenney said. “They did their job all night and helped me do my job tonight. When I saw it go through, it was like a dream come true.”
A 13-yard pass from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks gave Syracuse (2-1, 1-1 ACC) a 24-23 lead with 3:13 left, but Ashton Daniels drove the Cardinal (2-1, 1-0) down the field and scored the winning goal. A crucial 27-yard pass to Elic Ayomanor on fourth-and-nine kept the drive alive.
“This was obviously special for us, our first ACC game,” Daniels said. “This is history for us, especially, and I’m not going to lie, we’ve struggled the last two seasons. This was such a big win for us guys, we couldn’t control their emotions. The great trust and respect I have for my connection with Elic … I knew there was no one else I could turn to.”
Kenney also scored field goals of 38, 51 and 35 yards.
Safety Mitch Leigber intercepted a pass from McCord intended for Dan Villari at the Stanford 29-yard line for a touchdown, giving the Cardinal a 20-10 lead with 4:16 left in the third quarter. It was Stanford’s first pick-6 since September 2021. McCord ran 19 yards down the right side and dove into the end zone from 1 yard out, bringing Syracuse within 20-17.
Daniels completed 23 of 38 passes for 178 yards and scored a touchdown to Ayomanor, who received seven passes for 87 yards.
McCord completed 27 of 42 passes for 339 yards but was intercepted twice, giving Stanford 10 points. He was also sacked four times – twice by David Bailey. Trebor Pena had 10 pass catches for 101 yards.
“The first (interception) was a miscommunication with Dan, but I take the blame because I can’t throw unless Dan turned around,” McCord said. “The second one was just stupid.”
Syracuse coach Fran Brown defended his quarterback, saying McCord drove the Orange down the field for a potentially game-winning drive.
“He gave us a chance to win, that’s all you can ask for,” Brown said. “Did he throw the ball to the other team? Yes. But that’s football. You can’t pass 500 yards every game.”
The Cardinal defense held LeQuint Allen, Syracuse’s leading runner, to 25 yards on eight carries. Syracuse gained just 26 yards on the ground. The Cardinal held Cal Poly to 25 yards on the ground in their other win.
“The defense has been much more aggressive the last two weeks,” said Stanford coach Troy Taylor.
Limitation of Gadsden
Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II, who had 13 catches to start the game, managed just two.
THE RESULT
This was a great win for the Cardinal, who dominated the Orange in the first half and showed that they will be difficult to beat.
Syracuse will have to start over again as the team seemed unbalanced for much of the game. There was no running game and McCord looked nervous for the first time in his short Syracuse career.
Next
Stanford: The Cardinals will play their second consecutive away game – on September 28 against Clemson.
Syracuse: The Orange will host Holy Cross on Sept. 28 in the last of four consecutive home games to begin the 2024 season.
——–
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
