On Saturday, Stanford football fell to NC State on the road by a final score of 59-28. NC State quarterback CJ Bailey led the way for the Wolfpack going 18-20 for 234 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions while running backs Jordan Waters and Hollywood Smothers each rushed for 100+ yards and two touchdowns. Waters rushing for 115 yards on five carries and Smothers rushing for 100 yards on 16 carries.
Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels was the top performer for the Cardinal, going 6-8 for 70 yards while rushing for 129 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. NC State improves to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football: NC State Postgame Press Conference
BOX SCORE: Stanford at NC State-Saturday, November 2nd
NC State got the ball to start the game and scored on the opening drive as a two yard touchdown by Smothers capped off a nine play, 55 yard drive following a kickoff return to the 45 yard line by DK Kaufmann.
Stanford’s first drive ended with Ashton Daniels getting sacked and fumbling the ball, which was recovered by NC State on the Stanford 32 yard line. The drive ended quickly as Jordan Waters had a 13 yard touchdown run. It was now a 14-0 lead for NC State with 5:06 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford quickly responded as Ashton Daniels had a 67 yard touchdown run to make it 14-7 with 2:56 to go in the 1st quarter. The Cardinal appeared to have a little bit of life and were in a better position than they had been at this point in previous games.
NC State would work the ball down the field on their next drive and set up a 3rd and goal from the 1 yard line to start the 2nd quarter. Stanford would back them up four yards, setting up a 4th and goal from the 5 yard line. Collin Smith came on to attempt a 23 yard field goal for NC State and made it, making it 17-7 with 14:15 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Stanford would find the end zone quickly on the next drive as freshman running back Cole Tabb had a 39 yard run after which Ashton Daniels connected with freshman wide receiver Emmett Mosley for a 29 yard completion down the sideline. Initially it was ruled incomplete, but upon review it was ruled a completion, giving Stanford the ball on the NC State 5 yard line. From there, quarterback Justin Lamson was able to punch it in the end zone, making it 17-14 with 11:15 to go in the 2nd quarter.
At this point, it looked like Stanford had some life. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they wouldn't have life for much longer as NC State found the end zone on back to back drives as CJ Bailey found Justin Joly for a nine yard touchdown pass after which a punt by Stanford led to another touchdown drive for NC State in which Keenan Jackson had an eight yard touchdown reception to cap off a nine play, 70 yard drive. NC State would lead 31-14 at halftime.
Stanford would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter and score quickly as Ashton Daniels had a 48 yard touchdown run. That made it 31-21 with 11:29 to go in the quarter. For a brief moment, it looked like maybe Stanford had a shot. But then, DK Kaufman had a 91 yard kickoff return, which set up a nine yard rushing touchdown by KC Concepcion. NC State now led 38-21 with 11:04 to go.
From there, things spiraled out of control for Stanford. First, Ashton Daniels got knocked out of the game due to a roughing the passer penalty that oddly enough wasn’t checked for targeting. After that, Hollywood Smothers had a 52 yard touchdown run for NC State before Jordan Waters had a 94 yard touchdown run. NC State would lead 52-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
In the 4th quarter, both teams traded touchdowns. CJ Bailey would find KC Concepcion for a short five yard touchdown to make it a 59-21 lead for NC State and then an interception by Stanford outside linebacker Teva Tafiti led to a scoring drive for the Cardinal as Justin Lamson found Elic Ayomanor for a 14 yard touchdown pass. 59-28 would be the final score.
For Stanford, this loss is frustrating because of how things spiraled out of control after they got within three points. Special teams continues to be an issue as a big kick return by NC State took away any opportunity for them to build some momentum. On top of all that, Stanford outside linebacker David Bailey was disqualified for a kicking a player in the 4th quarter. It was overall a very frustrating game for the Cardinal as they just weren’t able to put it together.
What really seemed to deflate the Cardinal was Ashton Daniels getting hurt. He was playing with a lot of heart and doing a great job of keeping them afloat. Once he went down, that seemed to end all hope of a Cardinal comeback.
And on that note, I would love to get an explanation from the officials about why they didn’t at least check for targeting considering he was down on the ground for at least a couple of minutes after looking like he took a shot to the head. In this safety conscious era, it’s puzzling that the officials didn’t at least give it a look.
Anyways, all that Stanford can do at this point is lick their wounds, heal up, and make use of the upcoming bye week. They could use a break before the final three games of the regular season, all of which will be in the Bay Area (at Cal and at San Jose State). One thing that will be interesting to see is when we’ll see true freshman quarterback Elijah Brown again. After the game, head coach Troy Taylor indicated that they’d like to preserve his opportunity to redshirt and that he can only play in one more game. So that’s something to watch for.
Up next for Stanford will be a home game against Louisville on Saturday, November 16th. Kickoff time is set for 12:30 PM PT on ACC Network.
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