Stanford made the most of its first-ever ACC conference game, rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to take home a dramatic 26-24 road win over Syracuse. The Cardinal used an 11-play, 54-yard drive in the final 3:13 in regulation that set up a 39-yard walk-off field goal by kicker Emmet Kenney.
With 37 seconds remaining and facing fourth and nine from Syracuse’s 45-yard line, Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels connected with star receiver Elic Ayomanor for a 27-yard gain that set up the field goal attempt as time expired.
Ayomanor made the play of the game on Stanford’s second offensive drive when he hauled in a one-handed touchdown from Daniels to take an early 7-0 lead. The Cardinal led from that moment until Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord connected with Jackson Meeks on a 13-yard touchdown with 3:13 remaining to take a 24-23 lead.
Stanford extended its lead to 10 when Stanford safety Mitch Leigber returned an interception 71 yards the other way for a touchdown with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter. McCord and the Syracuse offense responded with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession, which ended with an athletic run from the Ohio State transfer.
McCord finished with 339 yards passing and two touchdowns in his third game in a Syracuse uniform.
Stanford (2-1, 1-0 ACC) will travel to No. 21 Clemson next Saturday, while Syracuse (2-1, 0-1) hosts FCS Holy Cross before traveling to Las Vegas to face UNLV on Oct. 4.
