Both teams committed plenty of mistakes, but Stanford withstood a late Syracuse rally and pulled out a 26-24 win on a walk-off field goal at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange (2-1, 1-1 ACC) came back to grab their first lead of the night with 3:13 to play, but the Cardinal (2-1, 1-0) responded with a drive that ate up 54 yards and every second in winning their first ever ACC game.

Stanford jumped out to a 10-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter as the SU offense could not get out of the gate. On the Cardinal drive following the second Cardinal score, Devin Grant flipped the field with a spectacular diving interception to set up Syracuse at the guests’ 23. The Orange got a first down, but could advance no further and settled for a 30-yard field goal from Brady Denaburg to draw within 10-3

Stanford matched that field goal with under two minutes to go in the opening half to retake a double-figure lead, but Syracuse finally got things moving in response. Kyle McCord was sacked for the fourth time of the half on the first Orange play, but he responded with a pair of completions, the second turning into a 67-yard touchdown pass to Umari Hatcher after a Cardinal cornerback fell. Denaburg’s conversion made it a 13-10 game with 28 seconds left in the half.

Neither team was able to make much happen on the offensive side in the third quarter, so Stanford’s defense took the initiative, intercepting a McCord pass and returning it for a touchdown and a 20-10 lead.

Led by McCord, the SU offense responded with their best drive of the evening. McCord completed 5-of-6 passes, then scrambled his way into a lot of green grass for a 19-yard touchdown run, crashing into the corner of the end zone. The extra point made it a three-point margin again, this time with just a few seconds left in the third quarter.

McCord was picked off on the next Syracuse drive and the visitors turned the miscue into another field goal, doubling their lead to 23-17 with a little over nine minutes left.

Each team filed a three-and-out, then McCord led the Orange on another scoring drive, hitting Darrell Gill Jr to convert a third-and-17 and later putting a bullet on Jackson Meeks for a 13-yard touchdown. Denaburg’s extra point nudged SU in front for the first time at 24-23.

The Cardinal came back with a drive highlighted by a 27-yard pass on fourth-and-nine that moved them into field goal range. One play and a false start penalty later, Stanford’s Emmet Kenney finished a flawless night with his fourth field goal, this one a 39-yard effort for the win.

Kyle McCord had his roughest night in his brief Syracuse tenure, as a pair of interceptions put a damper on a 27-for-42 night for 339 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Trebor Pena was the biggest target on the night, gathering in ten passes for 101 yards.

Devin Grant and Clarence Lewis each made big impact plays with an interception apiece. Dennis Jaquez Jr. notched the unit’s only sack while Justin Barron and Derek McDonald paced the defense with eight tackles apiece.

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