STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Tiger Bachmeier had a 90-yard punt return for touchdown in the third quarter, sparking Stanford to a 41-7 win over Cal Poly on Saturday.
Ashton Daniels passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns, while backup quarterback Justin Lamson ran for a score to help Stanford to its first home victory under second-year coach Troy Taylor.
“It’s good for us as players, good for the student body, good for our coaches, everybody that’s involved,” said cornerback Collin Wright, who had an interception. “It’s been a minute. It’s awesome for the guys who have been here who went through that to finally get that turned around and be able to celebrate our home.”
Bo Kelly completed 17 of 25 passes for 149 yards for Cal Poly (0-2).
On a day when the Cardinal offense had sporadic success, Bachmeier provided the big spark with Stanford’s first punt return for touchdown since Christian McCaffrey’s in the 2016 Rose Bowl. Bachmeier’s return for touchdown is also tied for the second longest in school history.
“I thought he was going to fair catch the ball. Luckily he didn’t,” Taylor said. “Made somebody miss, picked up unbelievable great blocks and then he showed off his speed.”
The Cardinal (1-1) blocked a field goal attempt, ran a successful fake punt in the first half and Emmet Kenney added two field goals, setting the tone against the FCS Mustangs in the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
“Going into this week we knew we had to be great on special teams,” said Wright, who was originally credited with the blocked kick before it was changed and given to Aristotle Taylor. “They showed some things that we thought, as a special teams unit, that we could attack and we did. Those things are momentum changers.”
Stanford needed all of it to make up for an offense that repeatedly sputtered.
The Cardinal fumbled away their first possession then later got stopped on a 4th-and-goal try.