In its first ACC game, Stanford beats Syracuse with FG on final play

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

A 13-yard strike from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks gave Syracuse (2-1, 1-1 ACC) a 24-23 lead with 3:13 to go, but Ashton Daniels drove the Cardinal (2-1, 1-0) down the field for the winning score.

Kenney also had fields goals of 38, 51, and 35 yards.

Safety Mitch Leigber intercepted a McCord pass intended for Dan Villari at the Stanford 29-yard line and returned it for a score, giving the Cardinal a 20-10 lead with 4:16 to go in the third quarter. McCord ran 19 yards down the right side and leaped into the end zone from 1 yard out, pulling Syracuse to 20-17.

Daniels was 23-of-38 passing for 178 yards and a touchdown to Elic Ayomanor, who had seven receptions for 87 yards.

McCord was 27 of 42 for 339 yards, but he was picked off twice leading to 10 Stanford points. He was also sacked four times.

The Cardinal defense held LeQuint Allen, Syracuse’s leading rusher, to 25 yards on eight carries. Syracuse gained just 26 yards on the ground. Trebor Pena had 10 receptions for 101 yards.

The takeaway

This was a huge win for the Cardinal, who dominated the Orange in the first half, and showed they will be tough to handle.

It’s back to the drawing board for Syracuse, which seemed out of whack for much of the game. There was no running game and McCord seemed flustered for the first time in his brief Syracuse career.