SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Emmet Kenney connected on a 39-yard field goal near the end of Friday night to help Stanford beat Syracuse 26-24, giving the Cardinals their first victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I felt really confident out there, especially since I have the best snapper, holder and line blocking in the country,” Kenney said. “They worked all night to help me do my job tonight. When I saw it go, it was like a dream come true.”

A 13-yard strike from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks gave Syracuse (2-1, 1-1 ACC) a 24-23 lead with 3:13 left, but Ashton Daniels drove the Cardinal (2-1, 1-0) down the field for the winning score. A crucial 27-yard completion on fourth-and-9 to Elic Ayomanor kept the drive alive.

“This was something special for us, obviously, our first ACC game,” Daniels said. “That’s history for us, and I’m not going to lie, we’ve struggled the last two seasons. This was such a big win for us guys, we couldn’t control their emotions. The amount of trust and respect I have for my connection with Elic … I knew there was no one else I could go to.”

Kenney also had field goals of 38, 51 and 35 yards.

Safety Mitch Leigber intercepted a McCord pass intended for Dan Villari at the Stanford 29-yard line and returned it for a score, giving the Cardinal a 20-10 lead with 4:16 left in the third quarter. It was Stanford’s first pick-6 since September 2021. McCord ran 19 yards down the right sideline and sprung into the end zone from 1 yard out, putting Syracuse up 20-17.

Daniels completed 23 of 38 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown to Ayomanor, who had seven receptions for 87 yards.

McCord was 27 of 42 for 339 yards, but he was intercepted twice, leading to 10 Stanford points. He was also sacked four times — twice by David Bailey. Trebor Pena had 10 receptions for 101 yards.

“The first one (interception) was a miscommunication with Dan, but I’ll take the blame because I can’t throw it if Dan hasn’t turned around,” McCord said. “The second one was just stupid.”

Syracuse coach Fran Brown defended his quarterback, saying McCord had led the Orange down the field for a potential winning drive.

“He gave us a chance to win, that’s all you can ask for,” Brown said. “Did he throw the ball to the other team? Yeah. But that’s football. You can’t pass 500 yards every game.”

The Cardinal defense held LeQuint Allen, Syracuse’s leading rusher, to 25 yards on eight carries. Syracuse gained just 26 yards on the ground. The Cardinal held Cal Poly to 25 yards on the ground in their other victory.

“The defense has been a lot more aggressive the last two weeks,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said.

GADSDEN LIMITATION

Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II, who had 13 catches before the game, now had just two.

THE PICKUP

This was a huge win for the Cardinal, who dominated the Orange in the first half and showed they are tough to beat.

It’s back to the drawing board for Syracuse, who looked out of balance for much of the game. There was no running game and McCord looked frustrated for the first time in his short Syracuse career.

NEXT

Stanford: The Cardinal play their second straight road game on September 28 against Clemson.