Stanford football suffers heartbreaking loss to San Jose State in final game of 2024

Stanford ends its season with another heartbreaking loss, hoping to change the narrative of the program this offseason.

Nov 29, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels (14) gets tackled by San Jose State Spartans linebacker Taniela Latu (4) in the third quarter at CEFCU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images / Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Another one got away. It was a sunny but cold Black Friday in San José when the Stanford Cardinal hit the road to face San José State for their final game of the 2024 season. In what was once again a tight battle, the Cardinal came out on the losing end of things, falling 34-31 to finish 3-9 for the fourth straight season.

Starting off slow defensively, the Spartans got out to an early lead, taking a 14-3 lead in the second quarter after wide receiver Nick Nash caught his second touchdown of the game. However, Stanford then was able to score its first touchdown of the game after Emmett Mosley V caught a touchdown from Ashton Daniels to make it 14-10. Converting on a 45 yard field goal just as time expired in the first half, the Spartans took a 17-10 lead into the halftime break.

The second half saw much more even play from the two teams as Spartans quarterback Walker Eget opened up the third quarter with a long touchdown pass to Justin Lockhart to extend the SJSU lead even more and make it 24-10. The very next drive, Stanford quarterback Justin Lamson continued to add to the record books as he ran for his eighth touchdown of the year, punching it in for a one yard score with 9:13 left in the quarter to make it 24-17. But another converted SJSU field goal, this time a 24 yard chip shot, made it 27-17 Spartans at the end of three.

In the fourth quarter, the Cardinal started to make things much more interesting as a defensive fumble recovery by Stanford ended in a score which cut the SJSU lead to only three, as the score was 27-24 Spartans. After a good defensive showing by the Cardinal, the offense got the ball back, eventually giving the team their first lead of the game when Ashton Daniels ran it in for a one yard score with 7:39 left in the game, making it 31-27 Cardinal and putting them on the brink to victory.

But late game blunders continued to plague them as after more strong play from the defense, the offense came back out late in the game with the opportunity to ice the game and go home as winners. With just over two minutes to go, Daniels threw an interception, not only giving the Spartans the ball back, but giving them the ball back already in opponent territory. The field position proved to be too good as the Spartans drove down the field, ending with Eget throwing his fourth touchdown of the game and regaining the lead for the Spartans.

Getting one final chance, the Cardinal’s last offensive drive ended with a turnover on downs after Daniels was unable to connect on a pass, giving the Spartans the three point win. Despite the loss, Stanford had some shining stars, especially on defense, with cornerback Collin Wright recording an interception and two pass breakups, linebacker Gaethan Bernadel forcing a fumble and having made eight total tackles (two for loss) and linebacker David Bailey forcing a fumble as well. Ernest Cooper had the team’s only sack of the day.

With the season now over, the Cardinal will turn their attention to the offseason where they will continue to build the program back up and become a major force in a loaded ACC. Only time will tell what improvements and changes the program is able to make.