Stanford Pulls Off the Upset Against Syracuse to Secure First ACC Win

Stanford earned the biggest win of the Troy Taylor era on Friday night. The Cardinal went on the road and stunned Syracuse, pulling off the outright win as near double-digit underdogs.

The Cardinal got off to a great start, highlighted by a spectacular one-handed catch by Elic Ayomanor to jump out to a 7-0 lead.

Despite looking like one of the more explosive offenses in college football, the Orange offense struggled mightily in the first. They punted on their three first drives, which allowed Stanford to go up 10-0.

With Stanford leading 13-3 late in the second, the defense gave up its first costly play after Zahran Manley slipped and fell, allowing for Umari Hatcher to take it 67 yards for the score.

Leading 13-10 at the half, Stanford got a massive play from the defense that led to points, as Mitch Leigber picked off Kyle McCord and took it 71 yards for the score. A score that the team badly needed after Ashton Daniels threw an ill-advised pick. That pick-six put Stanford up 20-10, and it looked like they were on their way to a massive road win.

However, the Orange would not go down without a fight, answering with a touchdown drive just a few minutes later. Kyle McCord ran in a touchdown from 19 yards out to cut the lead to 20-17.

With just over 3 minutes remaining, Syracuse scored a touchdown on a pass from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks to put the Orange up 24-23. For the first time all night, Syracuse's fans were fired up and loud in the stadium.

With Stanford charging down the field to set up the game-winning score, they found themselves in a tough spot with the game on the line. Thanks to a devastating holding call, they got backed up on offense.

A series of events led to them needing a conversion on a long 4th-and-9. Despite his struggles throughout the game, Daniels threw a perfect back-shoulder pass to Ayomanor, who hauled it in for the first down and a gain of 27.

This ultimately set Emmet Kenney for the potential game-winner with just three seconds left.  A kick that he absolutely drilled as time expired, his fourth and most important of the night.

A kick that clinched the 26-24 win.

Star wide receiver Elic Ayomanor had a tremendous outing, finishing with seven catches for 87 yards and a score. Meanwhile, freshman running backs Chris Davis Jr. and Micah Ford combined for over 120 rushing yards, giving the offense a presence on the ground they sorely lacked last season.

Stanford is now 2-1 to start the season and 1-0 in ACC play. The conference looks wide open this year, with some of the teams at the top disappointing thus far. Taylor's team could be poised to make some noise in his second season at the helm.