Louisville-Stanford ending: Two penalties in final second lift Cardinal past Cardinals with walk-off FG

Stanford took advantage of two Louisville penalties in the final second to kick a 52-yard field goal and upset the Cardinals 38-35.

Entering Saturday, Louisville's only path to the College Football Playoff appeared to be through winning the ACC Championship Game. However, those hopes came crashing down against Stanford, as the Cardinals made a crucial mistake late in the game to essentially give the Cardinal the victory.

With the loss, Louisville is now 4-3 in conference, making it extremely unlikely that the team can finish in the top two of the conference. 

The Sporting News examines how Louisville blew a 14-point lead on Saturday.

MORE: Updated ACC standings, tie-breakers explained

NCAAF HQ: Live NCAAF scores | Updated NCAAF standings | Full NCAAF schedule

Stanford-Louisville ending, explained

Louisville took a 35-21 lead with just under 10 minutes left the game, and all the team needed to do was keep the lead against two-win Stanford. However, the Cardinal scored two straight touchdowns to tie the game with 45 seconds left, making it seem like the game was headed to overtime.

The Cardinals began its next the drive with a 23-yard play, but the drive would stall as Tyler Shough threw four straight incomplete passes at the Stanford 45-yard line, giving Stanford the ball back with five seconds left.

Stanford appeared ready to go to overtime, just calling a screen pass that went one-yard in its first play of the drive. However, Louisville's committed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play, which was then followed by an offsides, setting Stanford up for a 52-yard field goal attempt to end the game.

Absolutely incredible meltdown by Louisville. After turning it over on downs, they get penalized for a late hit, then on a 57 yard attempt they jump offside, and Stanford nails the GW from 52. pic.twitter.com/qkvtbc8bSN

With the loss, Louisville drops to 6-4, essentially ending any hopes of ending up in the ACC Championship Game, and as a result, the College Football Playoff.