Stanford Football team run out photo used 12-30-24Stanford Football team run out photo used 12-30-24
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Football

2024 Football Season in Review

STANFORD, Calif. — The 2024 Stanford football season marked another season of change. In 2023, it was the transition to a new coaching staff. This season, it was the transition to a new conference. For the first time since 1919, Stanford played conference games as a member of a new conference, joining the ACC. The change of conference brought new opponents, with the Cardinal playing four opponents for the first time, three of those coming against ACC foes. Stanford Athletics takes a look at the 2024 season for Stanford football, with plenty to highlight.

ACCLIMATED TO THE ACC

After a home loss to TCU and a home win against Cal Poly, Stanford hit the road for its first ACC game, making the journey out to the JMA Wireless Dome to face the Syracuse Orange. The Cardinal got on the board early and led until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Syracuse scored a go-ahead touchdown with 3:13 remaining. Stanford’s offense was able to engineer a game-winning drive, highlighted by a clutch fourth-and-nine conversion to get into field goal range. Emmet Kenney delivered the game-winning 39-yard field goal as time expired to give Stanford a 26-24 road win in the team’s first ACC conference game.

The talk of the internet in the first quarter was redshirt sophomore wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, who made an incredible one-handed touchdown catch to begin the game’s scoring. It reminded fans of the catch he made at Colorado in 2023 where he scored in overtime while pinning a reception against the helmet of Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Ayomanor would help play hero late in the game once again, hauling in a 27-yard pass from Ashton Daniels on fourth-and-nine with 37 seconds remaining to put Stanford in position for the winning score.

Kenney’s game-winning kick was his third field goal of the game, including a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter that was the longest of his career to that point. It also helped create a first-of-its-kind moment for Stanford, as former kicker Joshua Karty hit a game-winning field goal for the Los Angeles Rams two days later against the San Francisco 49ers. The duo became the first Stanford kickers to hit game-winning field goals in the same weekend.

Stanford at Syracuse - Game Highlights

CARDINAL > CARDINALS

Perhaps no moment in 2024 was bigger than Stanford’s final home game of the season. Squaring off against No. 22/19 Louisville for the first time in program history, the Cardinal upended the Cardinals’ bid for a spot in the ACC championship game with a dramatic 38-35 win, once again coming on a Kenney field goal as time expired.

The game’s final minutes saw Stanford erase a 14-point deficit on a pair of Emmett Mosley V touchdown receptions. The second of those scores came on a fourth-and-one with 45 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Stanford put in backup quarterback Justin Lamson, which usually meant a run play was coming. Instead, Stanford called a play-action pass and Lamson found Mosley V in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Louisville was able to get the ball onto the plus side of the field but failed to convert a fourth down that would have put them in position to win the game. That gave the ball back to Stanford with just four seconds remaining, but the Cardinal were the beneficiaries of two Louisville penalties. The first was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after Stanford’s first play, and the next was an offside penalty against Louisville on a 57-yard field goal attempt. This put the attempt just inside Kenney’s range and he knocked it through for a career-long field goal and his second game-winner of the season. 

The win was significant in many ways for Stanford. It was the first win over a ranked opponent since Oct. 2, 2021, when Stanford beat then-No. 3 Oregon. The victory snapped a 16-game losing streak against ranked opponents, and it was the team’s first home win over an FBS opponent since 2022.

Stanford vs. No. 22/19 Louisville - Game Highlights

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER BREAKOUT

The victory over Louisville would not have been possible had it not been for the breakout game by true freshman wide receiver Emmett Mosley V. He caught 13 passes for 168 yards with three touchdowns in the victory, setting Stanford freshman receiving records for receptions and touchdowns in a game. The 168 receiving yards trail on Mark Harris (189 in 1993) and Richard Sherman (177 in 2006) for the most receiving yards in a single game by a true freshman at Stanford.

Much like Ayomanor’s record-setting performance against Colorado in 2023, Mosley V’s game against the Cardinals followed a similar script, with two of his three touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter. It was the first three-touchdown game by a Stanford wide receiver since Ayomanor did so in the aforementioned game against the Buffaloes.

Mosley V finished the season tied with Ayomanor for the team lead in touchdowns with six and ended his first collegiate season with 525 receiving yards. No true freshman wide receiver had recorded at least 500 receiving yards in his first season on The Farm since Richard Sherman recorded 581 in 2006. 

MILESTONES

Stanford had a number of offensive milestones over the course of the season, highlighted by the efforts of its quarterbacks in the running game:

  • Ashton Daniels set the Stanford single-season rushing record by a quarterback with 669 rushing yards…ran for 129 yards at NC State on Nov. 2, tying the Stanford single-game rushing record by a quarterback set by Don Bunce in 1969.
  • Justin Lamson set the Stanford single-season rushing touchdown record by a quarterback with eight rushing touchdowns.
  • Micah Ford ran for 122 yards at Clemson on Sept. 28, the first Stanford freshman running back to eclipse 100 rushing yards in a game since Kenneth Tolon in 2001.
  • Elic Ayomanor and Emmett Mosley V both finished with six receiving touchdowns, becoming the first wide receiver duo at Stanford with at least six scores since Teyo Johnson and Luke Powell in 2001. 

DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS

The Cardinal was much improved on the defensive side of the ball in 2024, anchored by its ability to create turnovers and stop the run. Both were vastly better than year one under the Willie Shaw Director of Defense Bobby April and ranked among some of the best defenses in the country.

After struggling to take the ball away from opposing offenses in 2023, Stanford became one of the better ball-hawking teams in the ACC in 2024. Stanford forced 17 turnovers, an improvement of six turnovers from the prior season. Eight of those turnovers came on fumbles, which helped Stanford go from the second-fewest recovered fumbles in the country in 2023 to 31st in 2024. Three of those turnovers were returned for touchdowns, the most defensive scores by Stanford since 2016. The most turnovers came from Collin Wright, who finished in a tie for sixth in the ACC with three interceptions.

With a significant increase in turnovers, Stanford’s defense tightened down on opponents throughout its first season in the ACC. The defense shaved off nearly 50 yards per game from its 2023 total, with the biggest improvement coming against the run. Stanford ranked 39th in the country in rush defense at 133.5 yards per game, the fewest rushing yards per game allowed by Stanford since 2014.

WELCOME HOME, ANDREW!

Shortly after the season's conclusion, Stanford made headlines with the announcement of Andrew Luck returning to The Farm as the General Manager of Stanford Football. The newly created position is the first of its kind in college football in that Luck will oversee all aspects of the Cardinal Football program.

In his new role, Luck will be tasked with overseeing the Cardinal Football program, including working with Coach Taylor on recruiting and roster management, and with athletics and university leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support, and stadium experience. 

A 2012 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architectural design who returned to Stanford to finish his master’s degree in education in 2023, Luck led the Cardinal to a 31-7 overall record from 2009-11 after redshirting the 2008 campaign. Luck was a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up (2010-11) and concluded the 2011 season as recipient of the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Luck was selected as the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft, competing for seven seasons from 2012-18. Earning Pro Bowl honors in each of his first three seasons and four overall, Luck led the NFL in passing touchdowns (40) in 2014 and was named the league’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2018.

Luck’s commitment in the classroom was equally impressive as a 2011 First-Team Academic All-American and Academic All-America of the Year. He was also a three-time first-team conference academic honoree and member of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society. In June 2024, Luck was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Hall of Fame, becoming Stanford’s first honoree and joining his father, Oliver, a 2000 inductee, as the organization’s first father-son duo.

Andrew Luck on ESPN's College Football Gameday