Stanford football falls to Wake Forest in heartbreaking fashion

For the fifth straight week, Stanford will look to rebound from a loss.

Oct 26, 2024; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels (14) passes the football against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The win was right there for the taking, but mistakes were ultimately too costly for the Stanford Cardinal (2-6, 1-4 ACC) as they fell 27-24 to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-4, 2-2 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Stanford Stadium.

After quarterback Ashton Daniels tied things up at 24-24, connecting with tight end Sam Roush for a score, Wake Forest then took the lead once again right after the two minute warning, when a strong drive led by quarterback Hank Bachmeier put the Demon Deacons in field goal range. Kicker Mathew Dennis converted on the 23-yard attempt to give Wake Forest a 27-24 lead. With just under two minutes to go, Stanford had enough time to try and march down the field and score to either tie or win the game.

However, on 2nd and 10 with 28 seconds remaining, Daniels threw a critical interception while attempting to throw to star receiver Elic Ayomanor, getting picked off by Wake Forest defensive back Nick Andersen to give the Demon Deacons the ball back, and solidify the victory for his team.

“Yeah, we had him earlier on a double move one or two plays before and the ball just kind of faded on him,” head coach Troy Taylor said. “We came back to it. I thought the free safety did a nice job. Tried to hold them with their eyes and just probably faded a little bit too much.”

While freshman quarterback Elijah Brown started the game, attention soon turned back to Ashton Daniels. After coming in for a couple run plays, he ended up finding a rhythm, and with the hot hand, he ended up staying in at quarterback for the rest of the game.

“We were going to play both of them and utilize them both and [then] Ash just got hot,” Taylor said. “I thought he played well in the run game. Ran the ball well. Didn't miss a ton of throws or many throws.”

Wake Forest started fast, getting out to a 14-0 victory by the time the first quarter ended, but Stanford promptly responded, as Justin Lamson scored on a one yard QB sneak to get the Cardinal on the board. The big play of the half, and arguably the most memorable of the game, was when linebacker Tevarua Tafiti forced and recovered a fumble on a sack and then proceeded to run it back 44 yards for a touchdown to tie things up at 14-14 after the PAT.

“I just got the call in and I knew he was going to rush off the edge,” Tafiti said. “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 [Bachmeier] rolling out.”

The Demon Deacons then scored twice more in the second quarter, on a field goal and a touchdown pass before a converted 40 yard field goal from Emmet Kenney cut Wake Forest’s lead to 24-17 going into halftime. Both teams took full advantage of the break to regroup, as the third quarter was all about the defenses with neither offense scoring. Daniels threw his first of two interceptions in the game when he was picked off looking for Emmett Mosley V in the middle of the third quarter. 

On the defensive side, Stanford’s defense made some big plays aside from Tafiti’s fumble recovery, with freshman Brandon Nicholson recording his first-ever college interception, picking off Bachmeier with just under eight minutes in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinal the ball back and the chance to go win the game. Nicholson, who made his college debut against Notre Dame, has played exceptionally well since filling in for some injured players and remained in the lineup even with guys such as Aaron Morris returning.

"Give. Me. THAT!"
- @BrandonNich5, definitely 😏

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— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 26, 2024

“I thought they did a pretty good job in that area,” Taylor said of the defense. "Second week in a row we've had hands to the face on a quarterback after we stopped them on third down that resulted in points. That kind of stuff has to improve. But we had a scoop and score [for] 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 of 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.”

While a bowl game appearance is most likely out of the cards for Stanford this season, the last four games are still all must win games, with those contests providing good opportunities to see what the Cardinal have for the future. Now on a five-game losing streak, they will look to regroup and refocus ahead of another road trip, this time to North Carolina, where a rested NC State team awaits. The fourth East Coast trip for Stanford this season, this next game will be a true test of character and grit for a team that is ready to show that it is capable of winning in the ACC.