On Saturday, Stanford football upset No. 22 Louisville at home by a final score of 38-35. Stanford junior quarterback Ashton Daniels led the way for the Cardinal going 22-33 for 298 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while true freshman wide receiver Emmett Mosley V had 13 receptions for 168 yards and three touchdowns, setting a new program record for most receptions in a game by a true freshman (Stanford sophomore wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier set the record a season ago with 10 receptions against Washington).
Louisville freshman running back Duke Watson rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns on 11 attempts as the top player for the Cardinals. Stanford improves to 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the ACC while Louisville falls to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. This is Stanford’s first home victory over a ranked opponent since their 31-24 overtime win over No. 3 Oregon in 2021.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference: Louisville
BOX SCORE: Louisville at Stanford-Saturday, November 16th
“Really proud of our seniors,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “We talked about in life you know when the first time you do something happens, but usually you don't know the last time you do something. For a lot of these guys it's their last time playing in Stanford Stadium.
“So we talked about breathing it in, enjoying it, and making it memorable, and they certainly did that. We had 25 guys out for this game. Collin Wright, probably our best cover. Definitely our best cover guy. Tristan Sinclair, our best -- probably our leader and kind of heart and soul of this team, was out.
“These guys were so resilient and still found a way to do it. It was all three phases. There were crucial plays down the stretch. I'm really happy for our seniors that they get rewarded. They've worked so hard, and they chose to stay here when a lot of people left.
“I'm forever grateful and a lot of respect and admiration for this group. Just really happy for them.”
Stanford would get the ball to start the game only for their opening drive to result in a punt. However, Stanford would get the ball right back inside the Louisville 25 yard line as defensive lineman Zach Rowell broke up a pass that was intercepted by inside linebacker Gaethan Bernadel. Stanford now had the ball with great field position with 8:47 to go in the 1st quarter. Stanford would end up having to settle for a 41 yard field goal on the drive as Emmet Kenney split the uprights. It was now a 3-0 lead for Stanford with 7:59 to go in the 1st quarter.
“Yeah, I think they ran the first couple of plays. I seen the O-linemen cut the first two or three plays,” Bernadel recalled. “I think my job on that I had, like, an interior pressure. Shout out Zach Rowell, man. He got his hands up. We work that drill every single day in practice and in circuit.
“He got his hands up, and all I was thinking when the ball is in the air, our coaches talk about it all the time, tuck before two. Make sure you secure the ball, and get two feet on the ground.
I didn't know who was around me. I just knew I had to get the ball at the highest point, and it felt really good to come down with that interception for my team.”
Stanford would force Louisville to punt on the next drive as they had a nice stop. That set up 1st and 10 for Stanford from their own 38 yard line. On the first play of their drive, Stanford hit pay dirt as Emmett Mosley V took it to the house on a 62 yard touchdown reception. Stanford would now be up 10-0 with 6:12 to go in the 1st quarter after Kenney converted the extra point.
“We had been recruiting him for a long time. When he made the commitment to us, we knew he was a special player,” Taylor said of Mosley. “He's got unbelievable skills, his resiliency, his toughness. He really rose to the occasion. Not surprised at all.
“We expect him to be -- I thought since he's been here, since he committed, that he had a chance to be one of the better guys in the entire country. I think he broke the freshman record today. Just made some huge plays, and he's a tough kid.”
Stanford’s defense would continue to hold strong as they forced another punt. Tiger Bachmeier had a three yard punt return to the 28 yard line as Stanford had the ball back with 5:08 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s next drive did not go well as Ashton Daniels got picked off on a pass down the sideline to wide receiver Elic Ayomanor. Louisville defensive back Corey Thornton ripped the ball out of Ayomanor’s hands, so it wasn’t really Daniels’ fault. Just a great defensive play. That gave Louisville the ball back on the Stanford 43 yard line.
Louisville would take advantage of the turnover as a one yard rushing touchdown by Donald Chaney Jr. capped off a six play, 43 yard drive. A 29 yard reception by Ja’Corey Brooks was the big play of the drive for the Cardinals. It was now a 10-7 lead for Stanford with 1:07 to go in the 1st quarter following Bachmeier’s kick return to the Stanford 20 yard line. That 10-7 score would remain the same at the end of the 1st quarter.
Stanford would score on their next drive as a 24 yard field goal by Kenney capped off a 15 play, 74 yard drive that chewed up over nine minutes. That made it a 13-7 lead for Stanford with 6:56 to go in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Daniels nearly fumbled the ball in the red zone, but was ruled down and Stanford was able to get another play in to avoid it being reviewed. That was definitely a lucky break for Stanford.
Louisville would score on their next drive as a five yard rushing touchdown by Duke Watson capped off a seven play, 65 yard drive. That made it a 14-13 lead for the Cardinals with 4:06 to go in the 2nd quarter. The Cardinal (Stanford) would look to respond on the next drive.
Stanford would not be able to get any points on their next drive as Louisville would once again have possession at midfield with 2:00 to go until halftime. Louisville would find the end zone once more before halftime as a touchdown pass to Chris Bell from Tyler Shough capped off a seven play, 53 yard drive. It was now a 21-13 lead for Louisville with 49 seconds to go in the half.
Louisville would lead 21-13 at halftime after dominating the 2nd quarter 14-3. Stanford needed to regroup and find a way to get back in this game after taking an early 10-7 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.
Louisville would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter, but Stanford would force a turnover on downs. A very nice stop by the Cardinal defense. Stanford linebacker Gaethan Bernadel headed to the tent to be checked, but would return to the game. Stanford would have the ball on their own 37 yard line with 11:01 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford would punt on their next drive as Louisville got the ball back on their own 15 yard line with 9:16 to go in the 3rd quarter. It was a 31 yard punt by Aidan Flintoft. Not a terrible punt, but ideally it would have gone another 10 yards if it was to land out of bounds as it did.
On the next drive, Stanford defensive lineman Anthony Franklin would get called for targeting, which meant that in addition to being disqualified for the rest of the game, he’d also have to miss the first half of the following game against Cal. It will be interesting to see if that ruling holds should Stanford choose to appeal. From my vantage point, it was a questionable call, but it was reviewed, so Stanford better be prepared to solider on without Franklin for the first half of next week’s game.
On the bright side, Stanford would force a punt and get the ball back on their own 8 yard line with 7:06 to go in the 3rd quarter. It was still a 21-13 game.
Stanford would punt on their next drive and the first play of the following drive for Louisville would be a 68 yard touchdown run by Duke Watson. Louisville now led 28-13 with 4:48 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford needed to find the end zone on their next drive to get some momentum back in their way a bit and to their credit, they did just that. Ashton Daniels would find Elic Ayomanor for a 13 yard touchdown pass to cap off an eight play, 80 yard drive. Emmett Mosley V had a 13 yard rush on the drive plus a couple of nice receptions. Stanford would then convert a two point conversion as Daniels rushed it in. It was now a 28-21 lead for Louisville with seven seconds to go in the 3rd quarter.
Louisville would lead 28-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Stanford still had a pulse. Louisville would start the 4th quarter on the Stanford 35 yard line. Louisville was not going to give anything to Stanford as a five yard rushing touchdown by Watson capped off an 11 play, 77 yard drive. This gave the Cardinals a 35-21 lead with 9:44 to go.
Stanford needed to answer right back and they did as a four yard touchdown reception by Mosley capped off a six play, 75 yard drive. Mosley was in the back of the end zone and was able to keep his feet in bounds, using perfect footwork. A 55 yard reception by Ayomanor was the big play of the drive. 35-28 Louisville led with 6:37 to go. Stanford still had a pulse.
“It's actually funny. Me and my brothers back in the day when we was way younger, we used to just throw the ball to each other on the sidewalk and just practice that for hours on end,” Mosley said of working on those toe tapping touchdowns. “We used to always do that. It's funny that's what we're doing now at a bigger stage.”
Stanford’s defense would force a punt as outside linebacker David Bailey had a huge tackle on the drive. 35-28 Louisville led with 4:03 to go. Stanford had the ball on their own 24 yard line.
Stanford’s next drive would end in dramatic fashion as they went for it on 4th and 1 from their own 25 yard line. Stanford brought in Justin Lamson at quarterback, which telegraphed a run play, causing Louisville to stack the box. Lamson would drop back, get hit as he threw the ball, and deliver a fluttering pass that fell right into the hands of Mosley, who was in the end zone. After making the extra point, it was a 35-35 game with 45 seconds to go.
“That was it. We come up there. It's fourth and one. I've always thought there's great opportunities on fourth and one. You just have on have the courage to call them, right?” Taylor said. “I mean, there was 45 seconds left. We had a time-out, but I just felt that they would see Justin come into the game. It was after a time-out as well. They had seen him, and they probably thought they would try and end the game right now, I'm getting the stop.
“So it's something we had practiced, and our guys did a great job of executing. Got to the line of scrimmage really quick, snapped it on a really early snap count, and I think we got safeties low. They played the run.”
Louisville would fail to score on their next drive as it would result in a turnover on downs with four seconds left. This gave Stanford the ball back on their own 45 yard line. Daniels would connect with Mosley for a one yard reception as only one second was left on the clock. Louisville would then get called for an unsportsmanlike penalty call, advancing the ball 15 yards to set up a 57 yard field goal attempt for Emmet Kenney.
Before Kenney kicked the ball, Louisville would then get called for an offsides, making it now a 52 yard attempt for Kenney. Kenney would drill the kick as it went right down main street: 38-35 Stanford won on their second walk-off field goal of the season.
For Stanford, this is a huge win. They came in having lost six straight games, so to get back in the win column against a ranked opponent at home feels really good. Especially with it being Senior Day. What makes this win all the more impressive for Stanford, was several different people stepped up in crucial situations. Mosley, Lamson, Daniels, Ayomanor, Bernadel, Rowell, Kenney, Bailey, Bachmeier, and others made key plays. It was truly an all-around team effort as they had to dig deep to get the win.
“It means the world,” Daniels said of the win. “For a group of guys to be able to stick together and do what we just did on the field when we know that we're not even in bowl contention anymore -- we can't get that six-win mark. You know, it says a lot for the guys to go out there and do what we did today, stick together, love one another, and just be optimistic about everything.
“We just kept fighting. We're so resilient, and I'm proud of our team for going out there. I mean, it was an extremely hard game. Louisville is a great opponent, but our guys stuck with it, and we pulled it out. It's a big win for us.”
“The type of legacy I want to leave here, man, obviously we haven't had the season that we wanted to. Just being able to be part of the growth, being able to be part of the team that started it off because we're going to be really good. Trust me. You see it here,” Bernadel said. “You see we're a couple of plays away from being a really good football team. Just being part of the growth that got it going. Man, I love every single one of my teammates. I love every single one of my coaches. That's what I want to leave here.”
That all said, Mosley was clearly the star of the game. Stanford kept going to him and he kept making plays. With Elic Ayomanor often being the guy who commands the most attention from opposing defenses, it’s big for Stanford to have a second receiving threat who can take some of the pressure off Ayomanor.
“It's huge. You need a second guy because he's garnered a lot of attention and cloud coverage and two-on-ones on him,” Taylor said of the emergence of Mosley. “When you have a guy that can make plays like that, it takes pressure, and it changes what they can do coverage-wise. He's really special. They're both really special players.”
“For this game I really have to give all the glory to God,” Mosley said. “Been through a lot, and he's really just helped me out. My coaches put me in great opportunities throughout this whole season. Teammates have pushed me. Coaches have pushed me just to get to this point. We had a great game plan coming in, and we executed.”
As for Louisville, man does this hurt. Had they not committed an unsportsmanlike penalty and an offsides penalty at the very end, this game would have almost certainly gone into overtime and from there, who knows what happens. Giving up a late touchdown on a 4th and 1 stings and then to be sent packing on a 52 yard field goal is a brutal way to go. That said, they played really hard and for much of the game looked like a ranked team. They just weren’t able to fend off a Cardinal team that was hungry to get back in the win column.
Up next for Stanford is Big Game at Cal on Saturday, November 23rd. Kickoff is set for 12:30 PM PT on ACC Network.
“Yeah, tomorrow,” Taylor said of when they’ll start looking at Cal. “Cal is a really good football team. Justin Wilcox and his staff, they do a great job. All their games have been close. They're really talented, really well-coached. It will be a challenging one, but obviously it's a big game. Our guys will be ready to roll.”
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