Stanford’s home losing streak continues with painful 27-24 loss to Wake Forest

STANFORD – It was all set up for junior quarterback Ashton Daniels to reclaim his starting role in spectacular fashion on Saturday.

After coming off the bench for the first time in two seasons, Daniels helped Stanford overcome an early 14-point deficit, then he led a 99-yard game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

But not much has gone right for the Cardinal over the past four seasons, and Saturday’s game against Wake Forest was no exception.

Down 3 and at the edge of field goal range at the Wake 36, Daniels overthrew Elic Ayomanor and was picked off at the 10 with 22 seconds left.

Stanford’s 27-24 loss was its 12th straight home loss against FBS competition, a streak that dates back more than two years.

“We were a couple plays short,” coach Troy Taylor said. “I thought it could have been in any of the three areas, special teams, offense, defense. We make one more play on any side of the ball, and we probably come away with (a win).”

Ayomanor was targeted 17 times, catching 11 passes for 96 yards, but was double-covered on the decisive play.

Now Stanford (2-6, 1-4 ACC) must make a fourth trip to the Eastern Time Zone in seven weeks to face N.C. State (4-4, 1-3) next Saturday, knowing it will need to pull an upset or two to just improve on last year’s 3-9 record in Taylor’s first season.

“I said all along they’re super resilient, always respond,” Taylor said. “For that, I’m really proud. Now, they don’t want to hear about how hard they played all the time, but I’m proud of how they responded to a deficit and coming back and next time we got to win that game.”

Here were the biggest takeaways from the loss against Wake Forest:

QB SHUFFLE

Freshman Elijah Brown got his first career start at QB after playing the final three quarters in the previous game against SMU. The Cardinal had fallen behind 21-0 against the Mustangs, but switching to Brown did nothing to prevent another slow start.

Stanford went 3-and-out on its first possession and then Brown was intercepted on an overthrow as Wake Forest jumped ahead 14-0.

After three possessions, the Cardinal switched back to Daniels, the team’s two-year starter. Daniels immediately led a touchdown drive, completing all six of his passes for 61 yards, and stayed in the rest of the game. He finished 24 of 31 for 214 yards, a TD and two interceptions, and also had a team-high 54 yards on 11 carries.

“We were going to play both of them and then utilize them both and Ash just got hot,” Taylor said. “I thought he played well in the run game. Made good decisions in the pass game. So when he started playing well and we start getting in a rhythm, I just went ahead and stuck with Ashton.”

Brown was the third true freshman to start at Stanford, joining John Paye in 1983 and Ari Patu in 2021.

STRONGER DEFENSE

After allowing 160 points in the previous four games, the defense kept the Cardinal in it on Saturday and even provided some scoring when junior edge Tavarua Tafiti stripped QB Hank Bachmeier, recovered the fumble and ran 44 yards for the score. It was the Cardinal’s first fumble return for a TD since Jonathan McGill in 2019.

“During the off-season I was trying to really practice my edge rushing and it finally paid off,” Tafiti said. “I give credit to Coach (Bobby) April giving me the play, the free rush, and giving credit to the interior D-line creating the pressure inside and him rolling out.”

Two other touchdown drives from Wake Forest started inside the Stanford 40 after Cardinal turnovers, and the defense stopped Bachmeier on fourth-and-goal from the 1 late in the third quarter to keep it a one-score game. Ultimately the only points Wake scored in the second half was the field goal with 1:48 left, and even that possession started at midfield due to a 36-yard punt return.

“I thought we did some good things on defense,” Taylor said. “Obviously we can play better but I thought it was a pretty gutsy performance.”

The team matched its season high with four sacks, including 2.5 by defensive lineman Tobin Phillips, and freshman cornerback Brandon Nicholson had a leaping fourth-quarter interception.

HIGHLIGHT PLAY

The 99-yard drive was capped by one of the best individual efforts of the season. Junior tight end Sam Roush spun out of a tackle near the 10, shed another tackle at the 5, and bounced off a big hit at the 3 to score a 16-yard touchdown.

He caught six passes for the second straight week, finishing with 56 yards.

“Sam was always a guy that we thought could be really good in the run game and wanted to see him develop as a receiver and a pass catcher,” Taylor said. “We’ve seen the growth, really tough catches in traffic. The touchdown was one of the best efforts I’ve ever seen as a player or coach. Was an unbelievable play and effort. So he’s really come around. He’s going to be a really good player.”

But in the end, it wasn’t enough to avoid a fifth straight loss. This one was closer than the previous four, which were all decided by at least 24 points, but that didn’t make it any easier for Taylor.

“When you’re trying to build a program and do those things, all the losses hurt,” Taylor said. “You just have to be able to respond and be resilient and come back the next week.”