The Syracuse Orange and Stanford Cardinal laced off on a Friday night that offered historic moments for both football programs: Syracuse was playing at the Dome exactly 44 years to the date of the first football game that happened in this arena (September 20, 1980) and Stanford was competing in their first-ever game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Coast Conference (ACC).
This was also the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the football field, with neither playing each other in their long history, Syracuse playing since 1899 (Independent) and Stanford since 1918 (Pacific Coast Conference, or PCC).
The Cardinal would receive the ball first, and both teams would punt away their initial possession of the game.
On their second drive of the night, Stanford gained 19 yards on back-to-back runs (13 yards and six yards) from junior quarterback Ashton Daniels.
Two plays later, Daniels took to the air for a 17-yard toss to the end zone for redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, who turned toward the ball after beating his defender in the open field, leapt up to the 13th floor, to match his jersey number, and reeled the ball in with his right hand, giving the Cardinal the first lead of the contest, 7-0, in their inaugural game as an ACC member, at the 7:22 mark.
After the Orange punted away their second possession, Daniels aired out to Ayomanor on 3rd-&-10. Senior cornerback Clarence Lewis, who transferred to Syracuse from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, aided in preventing a catch by Ayomanor, but junior defensive tackle Kevin Jobity, Jr., was flagged for roughing the passer, moving the Cardinal from their own 40 to the Orange 45 and providing them a new set-of-downs.
The Cardinal would reach the end zone once again, but a flag would fall to the ground against them this time, with a holding penalty, taking their touchdown off the board at the end of the first quarter.
Just 57 seconds into the second quarter, Stanford would finish their third drive of the night with a 38-yard field goal from senior kicker Emmet Kenney to raise the Cardinal up to a 10-0 advantage, with 14:03 left in the first half.
Syracuse would lose 11 yards on their first two plays of their drive that followed the Stanford field goal, punting for the third time on three drives, this coming on a three-and-out.
On the second play of their fourth drive, the Cardinal would lose possession when Daniels was intercepted by junior cornerback Devin Grant just outside the Cardinal redzone, at the 22-yard line. This was Grant's sixth collegiate interception, with him grabbing five last season as a member of the Buffalo Bulls and this being his first in orange.
The Orange would come away with their first points of the contest, with junior kicker Brady Denaburg capitalizing on this opportunity created by the turnover, cashing in from 30 yards out, bringing the Orange within a score, down 10-3, with 9:26 before half.
Syracuse would be flagged for a defensive delay of game on Stanford's next drive, moving the Cardinal from their 26 to their 31 for 2nd-&-4.
Three plays later, the Orange would sack Daniels, with junior defensive end Denis Jaquez, Jr., bringing him down for a loss of eight yards, to the Cardinal 37-yard line.
Stanford would lose 10 yards, moving them back to their own 29, on a holding penalty immediately following the sack on Daniels.
The fifth drive of the Cardinal would end inside of their own 30, punting the ball to the Orange with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter (4:51).
A 25-yard completion from senior quarterback Kyle McCord, a transfer from the Ohio State Buckeyes, to redshirt-junior wide receiver Trebor Pena for 32 yards took Syracuse from their own 25 to the Stanford 43-yard line, but a sack by junior defensive end Tevarua Tafiti would move McCord and the Orange back nine yards, keeping the Orange from scoring on a drive where they had reached the Cardinal 35.
Kenney would end the sixth Stanford drive of the first half with a 51-yard field goal, bringing the score to 13-3 Cardinal with 1:35 left in the second quarter.
The Orange began their sixth drive by getting sacked when junior defensive end David Bailey took McCord down for a loss of eight yards.
McCord responded with a 16-yard completion to Pena, followed by McCord rolling out right, seeing redshirt-junior wide receiver Umari Hatcher, and throwing to him as Hatcher's defender was falling. Hatcher caught the ball and took off for a 67-yard score, Syracuse's first touchdown of the night, shrinking Stanford's lead to three, 13-10, with 28 seconds before the break.
That score would stand halfway through the first meeting between these two.
The Orange received the ball first coming out of the locker room, and after one first down, punted the ball away to the Cardinal.
Stanford Head Coach Troy Taylor would bring junior quarterback Justin Lamson in on 3rd-&-1 to try and get a new set-of-downs on the ground. After falling short, Taylor kept Lamson in, and Lamson, the former Syracuse quarterback, rushed for the first down on 4th-&-1.
Three plays later, Daniels would be intercepted by Lewis on the right sideline, who got in front of the receiver's route, ending the first drive of the second half for the Cardinal at the Cardinal 43.
A catch by Hatcher on the drive created by the interception would put the Orange inside the Cardinal 10-yard line.
But, wait...
A holding penalty would, instead, send Syracuse back to their own 46.
Shortly after, graduate linebacker Tristan Sinclair would seemingly not only hit a receiver late, but also appeared to go helmet-to-helmet.
Looking like a potential targeting call, the officials would elect to call nothing.
A few plays later, McCord would throw the ball toward junior tight end Dan Villari. Miscommunication on this play would not bode well for the Orange, as senior safety Mitch Leigber took off to the ball, grabbed a hold of it, and took off for a 69-yard touchdown, moving the Cardinal ahead 20-10 with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter.
McCord did not shy away from a challenge on the following drive for Syracuse, their third of the second half, sending the ball into tight spaces and trusting in his receivers, who repaid that trust with catches that deposited yards into the Orange bank account.
The final transaction of yardage by Syracuse came from McCord who decided to go through the drive-thru on foot, rushing out right and leaping over a defender into the end zone for his first touchdown on the ground as a member of the Orange, and first ever in college, after not having a rushing touchdown in three seasons at Ohio State. This score made it 20-17 Stanford with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
Daniels would go 4-for-5 on the next Cardinal drive that ended with five passes and three rushes that got the Cardinal to the Orange 17, where Kenney connected on his third field goal of the night, this from 35 yards out, to make it 23-17 Cardinal with 9:19 remaining.
On the following Syracuse drive, McCord started 4-for-5, with the only incompletion being on an attempt to senior wide receiver Jackson Meeks, who had transferred in from the Georgia Bulldogs.
Junior running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., would follow with runs of nine and four yards, the first showing Allen's incredible balance as he was parallel to the ground and somehow kept himself up with his left hand.
Then, McCord would go right back to Meeks who caught the ball as he went into the end zone for a 13-yard score, his first collegiate touchdown ever, after not scoring in three seasons at Georgia.
This score gave the Orange their first lead of the night, 24-23, and it came with 3:13 to play.
Syracuse would force a 4th-&-9 on their own 45 with 37 seconds to play.
Daniels would remain calm and send the ball to his top wideout, as Ayomanor turned around on the left sideline to catch the ball while Lewis was facing away from the quarterback. Ayomanor caught the ball for a 28-yard gain to the Syracuse 18.
Running the clock to three seconds, Kenney came onto the field, booting through his fourth field goal of the night, this from 39 yards away... and for the win, 26-24.
This conclusion gave Stanford their first win in the ACC in their first game in the ACC.
Conversely, this ending resulted in Syracuse Head Coach Fran Brown having his first loss as a head coach and as the leader of the Orange.
Both teams move to 2-1 on the season, Stanford 1-0 in the ACC and Syracuse 1-1 in the conference.
Daniels finished the game 23-for-38 for 178 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Backup quarterback Lamson got a victory in his return to the Dome.
McCord went 27-for-42 for the Orange, with 339 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Stanford freshman running back Chris Davis, Jr., took nine carries 79 yards (8.8 yards per carry) to lead all running backs on either team. Freshman running Micah Ford was second with eight carries for 47 yards (5.9 yards per carry).
Daniels took 13 quarterback keepers 45 yards (3.5 yards per carry).
Allen of Syracuse took eight carries 25 yards (3.1 yards per carry).
Pena led all receivers with 101 yards on 10 catches.
Ayomanor had 87 yards on seven catches for the Cardinal.
Stanford finished with four sacks and two interceptions. Sinclair led the team with seven total tackles.
Syracuse had one sack and two interceptions. Junior defensive back Justin Barron and redshirt-junior linebacker Derek McDonald each had eight total tackles to lead both teams.
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