PALO ALTO — The nationally-ranked Louisville Cardinals (22) were heavily favored against the Stanford Cardinal. On paper, Louisville had the better overall conference record.
The first quarter consisted of several three and outs by both teams. Stanford intercepted a #9 Tyler Shough-tipped pass and converted it into 3 points on a 21-yard field goal by senior kicker #13, Emmet Kenney.
On Stanford’s next possession after another three and out by Louisville, junior quarterback #14 Ashton Daniels found an open Emmett Mosley #10 for a runaway touchdown pass down the Cardinal sideline.
Louisville DB M.J. Griffin #26, intercepted an Ashton Daniels pass intended for sophomore wide receiver, #13 Elic Ayomanor. Louisville’s next play placed them on Stanford’s 1-yard line with a pass from Shough to wide receiver #1 Ja’Corey Brooks. Running back Donald Chaney #21, would punch it in for 6 points and with the extra point kicked by #38 Brock Travelstead. Louisville would close the gap, 10-7.
Stanford added another field goal in the second quarter on a 25-yard attempt by Kenney. Louisville’s response was led by freshman running back Duke Watson #26. Another pass from Shough to Ja’Corey Brooks placed the ball on the Stanford 5-yard line where Watson scrambled into the endzone for 6 points. Travelstead’s extra point sailed through the uprights, giving Louisville its first lead of the game 14-13. Louisville struck again with 0:49 seconds left in the first half, with Shough finding an open wide receiver Chris Bell #0 for a 6-yard pass play. The visiting Cardinals went into halftime with a 21-13 lead.
The third quarter opened up very much like the first, with both teams unable to move the ball. Finally, Louisville’s running back Duke Watson ran the ball into the endzone from their own 40-yard line; the extra point was good, making it 28-13, Louisville on top with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Stanford started their next possession from their 35-yard line. After a facemask penalty against Louisville, the ball was placed mid-field at the 50. Stanford running back #33 Cole Tabb, brought his team to Louisville’s 13-yard line where Ashton Daniels found Elic Ayomanor for a touchdown. Stanford’s 2-point conversion was initially stopped but a pass interference penalty on Louisville allowed Daniels to retry and go in for the much needed 2 points to make it 28-21.
Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell caught Shough’s pass and brought it down to the Stanford 5-yard line where Duke Watson carried the ball into the endzone for a touchdown on the next play.
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, Ashton Daniels found an open Elic Ayomanor for a 55-yard pass play. On the third and goal, Daniels again found an open Mosley in the left corner of the endzone for a Stanford touchdown. With 6:37 left in the fourth quarter, the Cardinal still found themselves in a 7-point deficit, 28-35.
Louisville punted on their next possession. Ashton Daniels got himself onto the Louisville 34-yard line. On a fourth down and one on the Louisville 25-yard line, Stanford brought in senior QB #8 Justin Lamson where he found an open Mosley. Mosley made a spectacular shoe-string grab falling into the endzone for his third score of the game. Stanford evened up the score at 35 apiece with less than a minute to go.
Louisville took one last shot into the endzone on their next possession on a fourth and 10 but came up empty. With Stanford taking over on downs, Ashton Daniels found an open Mosley towards the Stanford sideline where he would be pushed out of bounds with one second left on the clock.
After the play, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was slapped on Louisville’s #20 Tayon Halloway, adding an extra 15 yards to Stanford’s benefit. Kicker Emmet Kenney came in to attempt a 57-yard field goal but an off-sides penalty against Louisville’s #3 Quincy Riley, moved the ball another 5 yards. On the second attempt with one second left on the clock, Kenney calmly nailed the 52-yard field goal through the uprights, giving the Stanford Cardinal a 38-35 victory over the Louisville Cardinals.
