Stanford loses opener to TCU at home as offense stalls after halftime

STANFORD – Stanford started its first season in the ACC the same way it finished its time in the Pac-12: with a home loss, as Texas Christian beat the Cardinal 34-27 Friday night at Stanford Stadium.

TCU outgained Stanford 457-281 but committed 100 penalty yards and lost two fumbles to keep the game close.

Wearing red jerseys and red pants for the first time since 2011 against Notre Dame, and sporting ACC decals on their helmets for the first time ever, the Cardinal fell to 0-8 at home under second-year coach Troy Taylor.

Returning starter Ashton Daniels finished 17 of 35 passing for 163 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while sophomore Elic Ayomanor followed up his 1,000-yard season with 102 yards on seven catches. Daniels was most impactful on the ground, with 89 yards on 17 carries, but Stanford’s running backs were held to 35 yards on 14 carries.

Taylor was aggressive, going for it on fourth down three times inside his team’s 40-yard line. Down three points with 2:19 left, Stanford failed to convert a fourth-and-16 from its 19, and TCU put the game out of reach with a touchdown 23 seconds later.

Emmet Kenney kicked a 45-yard field goal with 36 seconds left to make it a one-score game, but TCU recovered the onside kick.

I thought we did a good job being resilient,” Taylor said. “Obviously struggled offensively in the second half. Early on, we were able to stay in it, the defense made some good steps, but there just wasn’t enough plays to hang on at the end.”

Stanford signaled its aggressiveness on the first play, when Daniels attempted a deep pass to Ayomanor. The Cardinal drove 89 yards on their first possession to take the lead, helped by three 15-yard penalties on TCU and a 31-yard scramble by Daniels on third-and-19. On third-and-goal, redshirt freshman Jackson Harris found a hole in the zone for a 3-yard TD catch.

TCU tied the game on its first possession when star wideout Savion Williams beat cornerback Collin Wright on a fade pattern on third-and-goal from the 5.

The Cardinal used a short field to go ahead again early in the second quarter. Mitch Leigber forced a fumble that was recovered by Washington transfer Jay Green and returned eight yards to the 20. After Sedrick Irvin ran for 13 yards on third-and-11, wildcat QB Justin Lamson faked a handoff and found redshirt freshman Ismael Cisse on a crossing pattern on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line to put Stanford up 14-7.

The Cardinal maintained the seven-point advantage into halftime when TCU muffed a handoff at the Stanford 6 with nine seconds left and defensive tackle Clay Patterson, a transfer from Yale, recovered the ball.

But Stanford’s offense stalled to start the second half. Other than a 29-yard designed run by Daniels, the offense went just two yards in four drives, and TCU scored 10 points to go up 20-17.

After Daniels’ scramble on fourth-and-5 from his 35 was short, the Stanford defense held TCU to a 39-yard field goal attempt that went wide, keeping the deficit at 3.

Ayomanor had been held without a big catch through three quarters, but he hauled in a 29-yard pass from Daniels with a defender draped on him to set up first-and-goal for the Cardinal. Lamson converted on a 1-yard run to put the Cardinal ahead 24-20 with 6:57 left.

The Horned Frogs went right down the field to retake the lead. Josh Hoover completed all six of his passes for 67 yards, including a 4-yard TD to Jack Bech with 3:13 remaining.

Given the chance to drive for the winning score in the final minutes, Stanford moved backward. Daniels threw three long incomplete passes and took a 6-yard sack, and TCU.

TCU scored the insurance touchdown 23 seconds later. After losing four Big Games as Cal coach from 2013-16, Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes beat Stanford for the first time.