Recap: Stanford rallies back to beat Boston College
On Saturday, Stanford football defeated Boston College 30-20 in their home opener. Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson went 13-22 for 186 yards and one touchdown while running back Micah Ford rushed for 157 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Ford became the first Cardinal running back to rush for 150+ yards in a game since Cameron Scarlett, who rushed for 151 yards in a 23-13 win over Washington back in 2019. Stanford cornerback Collin Wright also had an interception returned 19 yards for a touchdown. Boston College wide receiver Reed Harris had seven receptions for 141 yards. Stanford improves to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the ACC while Boston College falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Post Game Press Conference-Boston College
BOX SCORE: Boston College at Stanford-Saturday, September 13th
“Fantastic win right after a rough 0-2 start,” Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich said after the game. “Coming home, having our home opener, having it be a conference game, just really proud of the team and the way we fought. The way the game was going, we got off to a pretty good start; then kind of got away from us and we fought back into it. Then I thought we just dominated in the second half in all three phases to make the plays to win the game, so proud of a great team win.”
“Yeah, I think it was an ultimate team win out there: special teams, defense, offense, offensive line, backs, receivers, tight ends, catching the ball and making plays in space,” Gulbranson added. “Yeah, just really proud of the way we played tonight.”
Stanford got off to a solid start in this game, leading 6-0 at the end of the 1st quarter as Emmet Kenney made a 23 yard and 35 yard field goal to cap off a couple of drives. Stanford’s offense was moving the ball well and looked like they might find the end zone, so it was a bit of a bummer for them to not have scored a touchdown on either of those drives. Still, to put up points and lead 6-0 felt good for Stanford. Especially given they scored three points the week before at BYU.
Boston College would get on the board with a field goal of their own early on in the 2nd quarter as Luca Lombardo drained a 51 yard field goal, making it 6-3 with 13:38 to go until halftime. Stanford would punt on their next drive after which Boston College had a five play, 73 yard drive to find the end zone as quarterback Dylan Lonergan connected with running back Turbo Richard for a 49 yard touchdown pass. That made it a 10-6 lead for the Eagles with 10:43 to go in the half following the extra point.
Stanford would punt on their next position, giving Boston College the ball back on their own 26 yard line with 9:39 to go in the half. The Eagles would find the end zone once more as they had a four play, 74 yard drive capped off a by two yard rushing touchdown from Jordan McDonald. The big play of the drive was a 46 yard reception by Reed Harris. That made it a 17-6 lead for the Eagles with 8:04 to go in the half.
Stanford’s next drive would be a turnover on downs as they failed to convert a 4th and 5 from the Boston College 38 yard line. Boston College would march the ball down the field only for Lonergan to fumble the ball, giving it back to Stanford on their own 24 yard line with 2:41 to go in the half. With not much time left, Stanford was able to find the end zone quickly as a 69 yard touchdown pass from Ben Gulbranson to tight end Sam Roush capped off a three play, 76 yard drive. Stanford now had some life as they were down 17-13 with 1:47 to go in the half.
“Yeah, great play by Sam,” Reich said. “I knew once he got — nobody’s going catch that guy. He’s fast. Nobody is going to bring him down. I was real happy for him. You know, he’s a big time leader on this team, and he’s the ultimate teammate, leader, and he’s just really, really good football player. So fun to get him that big play. We need to continue to find ways to get him the ball and feature him, give him opportunities to continue to be a big part of the offense.”
Boston College would then get the ball on their own 17-yard line after a modest kick return from VJ Wilkins. After an incomplete pass, Lonergan got picked off by cornerback Collin Wright, who took it to the house for a pick six. That made it a 20-17 lead for Stanford following the extra point with 1:29 to go in the half.
“Awesome. It’s a look we got all week in practice,” Wright said of his pick six. “Our coaches did a great job getting us in those looks. Same formation we saw on film all week they came out in, so I kind of knew what play was, anticipated, tried to tell my guys it was coming. And then obviously didn’t think the quarterback was going to throw it but he threw it I was a great position, and did a good job finishing the play. So awesome, exciting.”
“Yeah, Collin, I’ll tell you what, was a little bit injured early on but now he has been back for two games, and, man, has he made a difference,” Reich said of Wright. “That was a massive play in the game. Credit to Coach Thompson and Coach April and the whole defensive staff, but really the players. They really — it was a physical game. It was a really — we talked about this needed to be physical, and especially on defense. The way we would do it on offense would be to run the ball. So, yeah, just a credit to those guys on defense. Such a good game.”
Boston College would then march the ball down the field and even up the game as Lombardo nailed a 31 yard field goal as the final play of the half. Stanford’s defense did a good job of not giving up a touchdown as the Eagles were threatening. Tied up 20-20 at halftime, Stanford was back in the game and entered the tunnel with some momentum.
The 3rd quarter was pretty uneventful until the very end. With 2:37 to go in the quarter, still tied up 20-20, Boston College had the ball on a 4th and goal from the 1 yard line. Lonergan would hand the ball off to Turbo, who fumbled the ball in the end zone, recovered by Stanford safety Jay Green. That made it a touchback, giving Stanford the ball on their own 20 yard line with 2:32 to go in the quarter.
“Unbelievable. I mean, what a play. What a play. Just massive,” Reich said of the goal line stand. “Then if I’m remembering correctly, we make that play and score a few plays later. Yeah, puts us in position. So that was a really big swing in the game.
“I mean, defense really played well the whole game, and then offense, you know, I mean, just really the second half the way the O-line played and the way we ran the ball in the second half, and Ben played a good game, made the plays he needed to make; did a good job managing the run game. Special teams we were excellent. You know, Emmet and the crew made all the kicks and all the points and we needed them all, so it was a great night.”
Ford would then rip off a 75 yard run before then punching the ball in the end zone from five yards out to complete a two play, 80 yard drive. That gave Stanford a 27-20 lead with 1:35 to go in the 3rd quarter.
“I mean, he’s a complete back,” Reich said of Ford. “Runs hard. He’s fast. He just keeps pounding. Hard to tackle. You know, that whole running back room, it’s like the whole team, but that room is a great room. Micah is a great dude. Just a ten out of ten person. He works so stinking hard. The way he worked in spring ball and training camp and how hard he worked, I’m glad to see it paying off for him. He deserves it.”
“Yeah, definitely disappointed I couldn’t get that done,” Ford said of not taking it to the house on one 80 yard run. “Yeah, I just saw we got a good kick-out block and I had a — I knew I had to break the safety tackle and that’s what I did. I think just looking back kind of slowed me down. Just trust my speed and just be able to get it done. We’ll break one of those and finish it next time for sure.”
Stanford would then force a punt to get the ball back on their own 44 yard line to start the 4th quarter. With 15:00 to go, up 27-20, and with the ball, Stanford had a chance to go up by two scores and put even more pressure on the Eagles. Ford would immediately rush for 31 yards, helping to set up a 26 yard field goal by Kenney. That gave Stanford a 30-20 lead with 11:26 to go.
From there, Stanford would hang on to win 30-20. They would force a punt, getting the ball back on their own 20 yard line with 7:36 to go. From there, Micah Ford, Bryce Farrell, and Tuna Altahir were able to move the chains and burn out the clock, ending with Ben Gulbranson kneeing out the game.
For Stanford, this is a huge win. They pick up their first win of ACC play and also do it in their first home game of the season. It had been a rough start to the season with the losses at Hawaii and BYU. To get in the win column this early in the season helps affirm that their hard work is paying off and that they are trending in the right direction.
What was key to the win was Ford rushing for 150+ yards, Roush finally making a big play, the defense forcing turnovers, and Gulbranson being good enough. That combination touched on just about every key to the game that I had for the Cardinal going into the game. If they can keep up that kind of recipe, they could be in line for more wins this season. It was truly an all-around team victory.
“I just felt the will in the Boston College defense, that they didn’t really want any part of it anymore,” Ford said of his success against the Eagles’ defense. “Just to go out there and execute, take advantage of that. Lineman did a great job. You’ll see on that play the line did a great job getting up to the second and I just finished the play.”
“Practice. I’ll keep saying it: practice was a huge emphasis and obviously guys came to play, guys were hungry,” Wright said of their success as a defense. “It’s just great to see it come together. Being very good in the secondary, very good up front, a lot of great defense, and as everybody knows, great defense always wins games. We take pride in that. Thank you, Go Card.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Virginia on Saturday, September 20th. Kickoff is set for 4:30 PM PT on ACC Network.
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