Mosley's big game propels Stanford football to upset win over No. 22 Louisville

A six game win streak is over as the Cardinal get ready to face their most heated rivals.

Nov 16, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Emmett Mosley V (10) catches a touchdown pass against the Louisville Cardinals during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Crack. That is the sound of a losing streak coming to an end as on Saturday afternoon, the Stanford Cardinal (3-7, 2-5 ACC) pulled off a miraculous upset of the No. 22 Louisville Cardinals to get back into the win column after losing six straight games.

Louisville had the ball late in the fourth quarter, 4th and 10 with 0:10 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 35-35. On Stanford’s 45 yard line, hoping to get close enough to get into field goal range, Louisville opted to go for it where a pass from quarterback Tyler Shough to wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks fell incomplete, giving Stanford the ball back near the 50. 

With 0:04 seconds left, quarterback Ashton Daniels connected with Emmett Mosley, and after an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Louisville, the Cardinal were put in field goal range, setting up kicker Emmet Kenney to attempt the game winner, which originally was a 57-yarder but became a 52-yarder after an offsides call. Making the kick right as the clock hit 0:00, Stanford was able to go home with the upset victory. 

“So honestly when we got the ball back, I believe there were five seconds,” head coach Troy Taylor said of the final kick. “They added a second. There were four, and then I believe it was five seconds, which ended up being really big, right? I looked at the clock. So we talked about throwing a Hail Mary, but we decided to go for a -- we have five plays that we work at the end of a game every week. So one of them is a quick screen just to get as many yards as you can and then get down and try and kick a field goal or what not.

"So we got some yardage, and then we got a penalty. So the only thing I said to Emmet is, 'Can you make this?' It was 57 yards after the penalty. He was, like, Oh, I'm nailing it. I'm, like, All right. So then we got him huddled. Called a time-out and talked on the sidelines. The attempt was to get them to draw them offsides to get five more yards. So we got to the line. We talked about it. Hey, we're going to kick the field goal, but we're trying to get them to jump with a hard count. Then I tried to get the crowd quiet so the defense could hear the snap count. They actually did a pretty good job because the crowd was loud. They quieted down, and we got the illegal procedure penalty, moved it up five yards, and I mean, the guy just drilled it.”

Heading into halftime, the Cardinal were down 21-13, with Louisville having scored two rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown before coming back out and making it 28-13 in the third quarter by way of a 68 yard rush from freshman running back Duke Watson, his second of the game. Stanford then scored late in the third quarter to make it 28-21 when Elic Ayomanor caught a touchdown to cut the lead. Later on, another rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter from Watson made it 35-21 and gave Louisville even more momentum to win the game.

But thankfully, a touchdown catch from Mosley with 6:37 left made it a one score game and snatched the momentum back for the Cardinal to get it done. While it was senior day, it was the freshman Mosley who really shined brightly in the win, leading the team with 13 catches (a school record for a freshman) for 168 yards and three touchdowns, enjoying the best game of his young career.

“We had been recruiting him for a long time,” Taylor said of Mosley. “When he made the commitment to us, we knew he was a special player. He's got unbelievable skills, his resiliency, his toughness. He really rose to the occasion. [I’m] not surprised at all.”

Defensively, safety Scotty Edwards led the way in tackles, recording 11, but it was also the strong play from linebacker Gaethan Bernadel that helped the team rally together. In the absence of his linebacker partner Tristan Sinclair, Bernadel had to step it up. In the game, he recorded six tackles and a QB hit and also had a key interception early in the game.

Winning coming off of the bye week, the Cardinal picked up their second win of the season coming off a bye, as they had previously beaten Syracuse after a bye week. Never losing coming off of a week off as a coach, Taylor’s work in getting his guys extra prepared has paid off.

“This one is a little different because they had a bye week too,” Taylor said. “I think when you have a bye week and the other team does too – it's just a different situation. I think what I meant is I don't think I have lost after a bye when the other team doesn't have a bye because we had quite a few of those this year. You know, you get more time to study things and all those, but it's all about the players executing. You can come up with a great plan, but if he doesn't execute it, it doesn't matter. They executed, especially down the stretch.”

With a rivalry game against Cal next week, a win over Louisville gives the Cardinal extra confidence and a massive momentum boost ahead of what is always a storied game. Now shifting focus, the Cardinal will use the week to prepare ahead of a big game on Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (PT).