The Stanford Cardinal knocked off the Syracuse Orange 26-24 last night in a true dramatic fashion. Emmett Kenney came on with three seconds left to nail the 39-yard field goal, giving Stanford their first win in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It’s a big step forward for the Cardinal, who found a new home in the ACC and is starting (no pun intended) on the right foot.
After both teams punted in the first series of the game, Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor had a spectacular touchdown grab from Ashton Daniels. The Cardinal held Syracuse again on their second offensive series and capitalized with a 38-yard field goal by Kenney. Daniels didn’t have his best game, but he did put together a fantastic drive with three minutes left in the game. The biggest play on the drive was a 27-yard pass to Ayomanor on 4th down to put the Cardinal in field goal range.
Syracuse kept it close all game long, but they just felt out of sync the entire game. McCord had a good game numbers-wise, but the offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Leading rusher LeQuint Allen rushed for over 80 yards in the first two games but was held to just 25 yards on eight carries last night. Star TE Oronde Gadsden II was held to only two catches for 12 yards. Trebor Pena showed why he’s McCord’s favorite option, with 10 catches for 101 yards. But the offense just seemed out of kilter. A huge momentum killer for Syracuse came in the third quarter when Mitch Leigber picked off McCord and went 71 yards for a Stanford touchdown.
While the game was pretty close in the second half, Stanford won by being able to start a little quicker than Syracuse did. McCord did an excellent job of giving the Orange their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter. But miscues and a slow start helped Stanford walk away with a win.
The Cardinals go to 2-1 in the season and will go on the road again next Saturday to play Clemson. Syracuse drops to 2-1 and will try to regroup against Holy Cross next Saturday. It will be the final of four straight home games for the Orange.