ORLANDO, Fla. — Not even Tiger Woods could inspire Stanford against one of the hottest teams in college football.

Schedule Date Opponent Time Aug. 31 Northwestern W , 17-7 Sept. 7 at USC L, 45-20 Sept. 14 at Cen. Florida L, 45-27 Sept. 21 Oregon 4 p.m. Sept. 28 at Oregon St. TBD Oct. 5 Washington TBD Oct. 17 UCLA 6 p.m. Oct. 26 Arizona TBD Nov. 9 at Colorado TBD Nov. 16 at Wash. State TBD Nov. 23 Cal TBD Nov. 30 Notre Dame TBD

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The Cardinal yielded four touchdowns in the opening quarter and 413 yards total offense in the first half alone and tumbled to a 45-27 loss at No. 17 Central Florida, which racked up its 28th win in 29 games.

“We tried to slow them down early, but you can’t slow them down if you’re giving up big passes,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “We gave up too many balls over our heads today. Double moves and straight up go routes. Too many big gains. Can’t beat a good football team by giving up big plays.”

Woods, who lives in Orlando and played golf at Stanford, was among the crowd of 45,008 to watch the Cardinal (1-2) play a regular season game in Florida for the first time (they have played three bowl games in the Sunshine State). He spoke to the Cardinal before the game and even let Shaw slip on one of green jackets he received for winning the Masters.

“Tiger’s great. He tries to come to at least one game a year and it’s been awhile because he’s been playing a lot and it’s been tough for him to make it out to Stanford,” Shaw said. “So this was perfect for time, coming back to his hometown, perfect time to see him.”

Also a welcome face was Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello, who returned to the lineup after sitting out against USC the previous weekend with a head injury.

He completed 21 of 44 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and an interception that led to one Central Florida score.

“I didn’t feel like I played well,” Costello said. “There’s certain situations that make the game hard, but there are certain situations where you have to make plays. I made a couple. But compared to what I expect from myself, I didn’t play well.”

Nonetheless, this one’s on the Cardinal defense, which seemed in over its head. Led by freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the Golden Knights built a 38-7 halftime lead as scored at least 30 points for the 29th consecutive game — the longest streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 1936.

Gabriel threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns in his second college start, completing 22 of 30 passes, including TD throws of 28 yards to Marlon Williams, 38 yards to Tre Nixon, 38 yards to Gabriel Davis and 1 yard to Jake Hescook.

Greg McCrae rushed for 109 yards and one touchdown for Central Florida (3-0) as the defending American Athletic Conference champions scored on six of seven possessions before halftime.

“I think people that watch us play know that we play championship caliber football,” second-year head coach Josh Heupel said. “We’ll hold our own every single week. They’re probably the most competitive group of kids that I’ve ever been around. They knew this was big.”

Shaw agreed.

“Pretty straightforward today, we got beat by a very good football team. Going into it all this Group of Five talk … I don’t know what any of that stuff is,” Shaw said. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is they’ve got talent, they’ve got speed. They’ve got playmakers, and they’re a tough team … one of the best teams in America the last two years. They don’t need a statement win.”

Austin Jones had a 35-yard TD run and finished with 65 rushing for the Cardinal, who got within 38-17 on Costello’s 24-yard TD pass to Michael Wilson early in the fourth quarter.

But Stanford, which tumbled out of the Top 25 after losing 45-20 at USC the previous week, allowed a touchdown pass by Gabriel after that and the outcome was sealed.

Gabriel started for the second straight week for the Golden Knights, who entered the game with an unsettled quarterback situation, even though they beat Florida A&M 62-0 and Florida Atlantic 48-14 the previous two weeks.

Brandon Wimbush, a senior transfer from Notre Dame, started the opener before sitting out last week with an undisclosed injury. He was inserted into Saturday’s game for one play in the second quarter, losing 2 yards on a run on 2nd-and-goal from the Stanford 2. Two plays later, the Knights settled for a field goal.

“They haven’t changed their offense in three years,” Shaw said. “They don’t care who plays quarterback. They run the ball and take (deep) shots.”

Changing his defense must now be at the top of Shaw’s to-do list. The Cardinal open Pac-12 play next week against No. 15 Oregon at Stanford Stadium.