On Saturday, Stanford football fell to Wake Forest at home by a final score of 27-24. Wake Forest quarterback Hank Bachmeier led the way for the Demon Deacons, going 20-31 for 245 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while running back Demond Claiborne rushed for 127 yards on 23 attempts. Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels came off the bench, going 24-31 for 214 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while tight end Sam Roush had six receptions for 56 yards and one touchdown. Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor had 11 receptions for 96 yards. Wake Forest improves to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the ACC
VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference | Wake Forest
BOX SCORE: Wake Forest at Stanford-Saturday, October 26th
“Yeah, I mean, we were a couple plays short,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “I thought it could have been in any of the three areas, special teams, offense, defense. We make one more play on any side of those balls, on the ball, and we probably come away with I know. Zero sum game. Didn't happen. They made one more play than we did and walk away with a victory.”
Stanford got the ball to start the game, but their first drive ended up being a three and out as Aidan Flintoft had a 53 yard punt to the Wake Forest 14 yard line that was fair caught. Wake Forest would move the chains a bit more on their drive but ended up punting as well thanks to an ineligible receiver downfield call and an offensive pass interference call. Stanford would get the ball back on their own 15 yard line with 10:41 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s next drive ended in an interception as freshman quarterback Elijah Brown was picked off by Davaughn Patterson at the Stanford 35 yard line. After a five yard rush up the middle by Tate Carney, Hank Bachmeier connected with Micah Mays Jr. for a 30 yard touchdown. 7-0 lead for Wake Forest with 8:47 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford would get the ball on their own 25 yard line to start the next drive and methodically marched the ball down the field, setting up a 46 yard field goal attempt for Emmet Kenney. Kenney’s kick would be wide left, keeping it at a 7-0 game with 3:24 to go in the 1st quarter.
Wake Forest would score on their next drive as Hank Bachmeier connected with Tate Carney for a 39 yard touchdown pass on 4th and 4. That gave Wake Forest a 14-0 lead with 49 seconds to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford would start their next drive on their own 31 yard line after a 22 yard return by Hank’s brother Tiger Bachmeier. Elic Ayomanor would have a 17 yard reception after which Chris Davis Jr. had a nice seven yard gain to end the quarter. Stanford’s drive got off to a good start in the 2nd quarter as the first play of the quarter was Ashton Daniels finding Emmett Mosley V for a 15 yard reception. Daniels would later find Ayomanor for a 14 yard reception, setting up a 1st and goal from the 1 yard line. Justin Lamson then came in at quarterback for a running play and found the end zone to make it a 14-7 game with 12:44 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Wake Forest’s next drive ended in a highlight play for the Stanford defense as Bachmeier was sacked by Teva Tafiti at the 50 yard line, fumbling the ball in the process. Tafiti would recover the fumble and take it back to the house for a touchdown, tying up the game 14-14 with 8:58 to go in the 2nd quarter. The Cardinal had some life.
“I just got the call in and I knew he was going to rush off the edge,” Tafiti recalled. “During the off-season I was trying to really practice my edge rushing and it finally paid off. I give credit to Coach April giving me the play, the free rush, and giving credit to the interior D-line creating the pressure inside and him rolling out.”
Unfortunately for Stanford, their momentum was short lived as the next drive ended in a 35 yard field goal for Wake Forest as Matthew Dennis split the uprights to make it 17-14 with 4:24 to go in the half. On the first play of Stanford’s next drive, Chris Davis Jr. fumbled the ball as it was recovered by Wake Forest on the Stanford 36 yard line. With a short field to work with, Wake Forest found the end zone as Hank Bachmeier found Taylor Morin for an 18 yard touchdown reception making it a 24-14 game with 1:59 to go in the 2nd quarter.
To Stanford’s credit, they were able to tack on points before the half as Kenney made a 40 yard field goal, giving Wake Forest only one second to work with. That made it a 24-17 lead for Wake Forest at halftime. What helped set up that field goal was a 14 yard pass from Ashton Daniels to Tiger Bachmeier, a 17 yard pass from Daniels to Mosley V, and a 12 yard pass from Daniels to Roush.
In the 3rd quarter, neither team would score. Ashton Daniels got picked off, turning the ball over to the Demon Deacons. That led to a 4th and goal from the 1 yard line for Wake Forest and the Stanford defense was able to get the stop as Hank Bachmeier was tackled by Tristan Sinclair and Tobin Phillips. That gave Stanford the ball back with 1:29 to go in the quarter. That was the closest it got to a team scoring in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford would score on their next drive as it bled into the 4th quarter. On 4th and 6 from their own 49 yard line, Stanford went for it and converted as Daniels found Ayomanor for a clutch eight yard reception. This set up 1st and 10 from the Wake Forest 43 yard line.
“We do. We have the analytics is a factor which told us to go for it,” Taylor said of the decision to go for it. “I don't think we're 100% on the analytics. There are times we don't follow it.
“That one was definitely said that we should go for it. Obviously it worked out. Yeah, it's a tool. It's a really good tool. But there are certain things it doesn't take into account. The rhythm of the game, weather, those type of things. Sometimes you have to adjust.”
Daniels then found Ayomanor for an 11 yard completion after which Daniels rushed for 12 yards. Two plays later, Daniels found Roush for a 16 yard touchdown reception, making it 24-24 with 8:41 to go. Roush broke several tackles and showed a lot of heart to find the end zone. It now felt like Stanford just might pull this game out.
Shortly into Wake Forest’s next drive Bachmeier threw the ball deep only to be picked off by Brandon Nicholson, who wrestled the ball away from Micah Mays Jr. It was reviewed and upheld, giving the Cardinal the ball on their own 19 yard line with 7:36 to go.
Ryan Butler would have a nice 22 yard gain for the first play of the drive for Stanford, but the drive stalled from there. That led to a 41 yard punt by Flintoft that was returned 36 yards to the Wake Forest 50 yard line with 5:15 to go.Wake Forest would methodically march the ball down the field and make a 23 yard field goal, giving them a 27-24 lead with 1:48 to go.
Stanford’s next drive got off to a good start as Daniels found Ayomanor for a 15 yard completion, but the drive ended in heartbreak for the Cardinal as Daniels was picked off trying to find Ayomanor down the sideline on a 2nd and 10 from the Wake Forest 36 yard line with 22 seconds to go. Wake Forest would kneel it out and escape with a 27-24 victory.
For Stanford, this is a very disappointing loss. For the first time in a while they had a beatable opponent and couldn’t get the job done. It was homecoming weekend and there was some optimism coming in that they might come out victorious. Instead, they dug themselves a hole and found themselves playing catch up the whole time.
“Great question because that's a point of emphasis, that we need to start fast,” Taylor said. “Obviously had a break down in protection and the ball sailed and they got the pick; made a play on the -- sometimes I don't see the other side of the ball's touchdown because I'm talking to the offense. So I didn't see that one.
“Just not clicking right away on offensive and putting our defense on a short field hoping to go down and at least move the ball. They got off to a good start, 14-nothing. I thought our guys responded. Obviously we scored and then the defensive touchdown was big.
“Missed field goal. Just did some stuff that it's hard to win. Bad coverage on the punt. Missed a field goal. And then missed couple throws. Turned the ball over. You know, even if your defense makes those plays, if you're not on all three cylinders, you know, it's going to be difficult to win.”
If there was any bright spot for Stanford in this game it would be the defense. They scored a touchdown and got a critical interception to give the offense a chance at the very end. Unfortunately, the offense let them down and gave Wake Forest a short field to work with.
“I thought they did a pretty good job in at that area,” Taylor said of the defense. “Second week in a row we've had hands to the face on a quarterback after we stop them on third down that resulted in points. That kind of stuff has to improve.
“But we had a scoop and score six points. We had a tough goal line stand on the one yard line. Kept them out of the end zone there at the end the game and heck of an interception by Brandon Nicholson. I thought we did some good things on defense. Obviously we can play better but I thought it was a pretty gutsy performance.”
To touch quickly on Wake Forest, they should be happy with the result. A road conference win is a road conference win. They bended, but they didn’t break. They made the plays they needed to make and a did a good job of taking advantage of the mistakes that Stanford made. Mission accomplished as far as they are concerned.
Up next for Stanford is a road game at NC State on Saturday, November 2nd. Kickoff is set for 9:00 AM PT on ACC Network.
“Yeah, no, that's why you play. If you're not winning you want to be close or have a chance to win,” Taylor said. “Our guys I thought they looked tough. I said all along they're super resilient, always respond. For that, I'm really proud. Now, they don't want to hear about how hard they played all the time but I'm proud of how they responded and to a deficit and coming back and next time we got to win that game.”
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