The opening kickoff

  • Stanford makes history on Friday night as it plays its first ACC game, heading east to take on Syracuse inside the JMA Wireless Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm PT on ESPN.

  • This road game at Syracuse marks the first of two consecutive road games to begin Stanford’s ACC slate. Next week, the Cardinal play at Clemson. Additional road games in ACC play will be at NC State (Nov. 2) and at California (Nov. 23).

  • The Cardinal is coming off its first home win in the Troy Taylor era by beating Cal Poly 41-7 on Sept. 7. Stanford used a 27-0 second half to pull away from the Mustangs. The win snapped a 10-game home losing streak overall, and an eight-game skid under Coach Taylor.

  • Special teams played a huge role in swinging momentum towards Stanford. Against Cal Poly, Stanford’s special teams unit blocked a field goal, successfully executed a fake punt, and returned a punt for a touchdown.

  • The punt return came from Tiger Bachmeier, on just his second collegiate punt return. Bachmeier took it 90 yards to the house for the first Stanford punt return since Christian McCaffrey in the 2016 Rose Bowl Game vs. Iowa. It is also tied for the second-longest punt return in Stanford history, trailing only Thomas Henley's 92-yard punt return vs. Oregon in 1986.

  • Another key for the Cardinal was shutting down the run against the Mustangs. On 20 carries, Cal Poly gained only 25 yards, the third-fewest in a game with Bobby April as the defensive coordinator. In addition, Cal Poly picked up just one first down on the ground. The last time a Stanford defense held a team to just one first down on the ground came in the 2014 Fosters Farms Bowl vs. Maryland.

  • A theme of Stanford in wins under Coach Taylor has been the Card’s ability to stop the run. Stanford is allowing an average of just 39 rushing yards per game to opponents in wins since the start of the 2023 season, or 156 yards in four games. Through three weeks of the 2024 season, Stanford's run defense ranks tenth in the NCAA and leads the ACC.

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Originally published by Stanford Athletics.