Stanford's Historic Comeback Against Colorado Named A Top Game Of The Season By ESPN
In Troy Taylor's first season as head coach at Stanford, there were a ton of teachable moments for a team that was among the most inexperienced in the country.
It was a Cardinal team that lost their entire starting offensive line, their quarterback, three top receivers, and entire secondary, and also lost their starting linebackers from the season prior. So, to say that it was a young team would be an understatement, not to mention they were nowhere near the scholarship threshold of 85.
Regardless, Taylor and his staff were able to find some rising stars and build confidence throughout the year. However, no game built more confidence for the players, fans, and college football that Taylor was the right hire than when they came back from down 29-0 against Deion Sanders' Colorado squad.
It was a game that will forever be known as the 'Elic Ayomanor game', as he exploded in the second half after a catch-less first. Ayomanor racked up 13 catches for 294 yards with three touchdowns in the second half and overtime, en route to Stanford's 46-43 win. The game itself was a Pac-12 After Dark game on a Friday that many people went to bed and missed due to the lopsided first half. According to ESPN's Bill Connelly, the game ranked as the fifth-best college football game of the entire season.
Elic Ayomanor pins the ball to the back of Travis Hunter's helmet
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
When talking about the Buffaloes' win over Colorado State and TCU which were at spots No. 6 and No. 7, Connelly broke down how Stanford led to their collapse.
Things went south from there. CU suffered a blowout loss to Oregon and a tight loss to USC, and after one final win (over Arizona State), the collapse was set in motion when the Buffaloes couldn't make a 29-0 lead hold up. Stanford, in the middle of its own dire season, got touchdowns of 97, 60 and (in overtime) 30 yards from Elic Ayomanor. Throw in a game-tying 46-yard field goal from Joshua Karty at the buzzer and a second-OT interception from Alaka'i Gilman, and you had maybe the most stunning comeback win of the season.
The aforementioned 30-yard touchdown by Ayomanor saw him pin the ball to the back of Travis Hunter's head and drag him into the end zone with him.
Alaka'i Gilman ended up picking off Colorado's Shedeur Sanders to seal the deal on Colorado's next possession, setting up a game-winner from Josh Karty.
While the Cardinal went on to win just one more game the rest of the season, it was evident in close matchups with eventual championship runner-up Washington and other games down the stretch that the team really rallied after the game. They played with a newly found swagger and confidence they didn't have before.
The Cardinal will now look to turn things around in a new conference in 2024, as they are set to join the ACC along with Cal and SMU.
