In its first ACC game, Stanford beats Syracuse with a field goal on the last play

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Emmet Kenney made a 39-yard field goal as time expired to help Stanford beat Syracuse 26-24 on Friday night, giving the Cardinal the win in their first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference game.

A 13-yard pass from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks gave Syracuse (2-1, 1-1 ACC) a 24-23 lead with 3:13 minutes left, but Ashton Daniels drove the Cardinal (2-1, 1-0) down the field and scored the winning goal.

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. 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 Elic 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, and was sacked four times.

The Cardinals defense held LeQuint Allen, Syracuse's leading runner, to 25 yards on eight carries. Syracuse gained just 26 yards on the ground. Trebor Pena had 10 pass catches for 101 yards.

The conclusion

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.

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.

Originally published: September 20, 2024 at 20:20