Football
Starting the season off at 0-2 following crushing defeats at the hands of both Hawaii and BYU, the Stanford Cardinal returned to the gridiron over the weekend for their home opener, where a matchup against Boston College awaited them, kicking off ACC play. And even though Stanford went into the game as massive underdogs, the team left victorious, earning the 30-20 win in upset fashion.
For the first time all season, the Cardinal played elite football in all three phases, getting strong performances out of the special teams, defense and even the offense. Through the first two games of the season, the Cardinal’s offense was stagnant and could not move the ball when it mattered most.
But against Boston College, the offense found a rhythm, with quarterback Ben Gulbranson breaking out in a big way.
Completing 13 out of his 22 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown, Gulbranson’s stats may not jump off the page, but a clean game from him was the major catalyst for the win. However, as quarterbacks should, Gulbranson attributed his strong game to the rest of the team doing their jobs as well and making his night a whole lot easier.
“It was an ultimate team win out there,” Gulbranson said. “Special teams, defense, offense, offensive line, backs, receivers, tight ends catching the ball and making plays in space and just really proud of the way we played.”
During the game, Gulbranson threw his first ever touchdown pass as a member of the Cardinal, finding Sam Roush for a 69-yard score in the first half.
It was that specific play that not only shifted the momentum firmly onto Stanford’s side, but it gave Gulbranson the confidence he needed to go out and deliver the win for his team. He was also quick to praise Roush, who despite being one of Stanford’s most talented players, has had a quiet start to the new campaign.
“We were running the ball well and we called one of our movements off of it,” Gulbranson said. “Sam did a great job of getting open and finishing the run. He’s a special player and he can make a lot of guys miss after the catch so really proud of the way he played today and [I’m] excited for him.
“That was a big momentum shift for us there in the game and everybody involved in that play, popping that for a big one right before the half, I think that was huge for us carrying us into the second half,” Gulbranson added.
The first two games saw Stanford’s offense really let them down, with the defense stringing together dominant games but struggling to get any offensive support. But after putting together a 30 point game for the first time all season, Gulbranson sees a lot of potential in the offense. Combine that with Stanford’s elite defense, the Cardinal could become more of a complete team.
“We’re just playing complementary football and also, it helps when the defense gets a touchdown,” Gulbranson said. “They’re playing their butts off over there so just glad we can help them out.”
Now that Gulbranson was able to put together a good game, his main focus now is making sure that he keeps it up for the rest of the season so that Stanford’s offense can find a rhythm. Alluding to the BYU game, Gulbranson has been blocking out the noise and has worked tirelessly on getting better each week, happy to see that his offensive unit was able to get it done on Saturday.
“I like playing football and I was going to keep believing in my process,” Gulbranson said. “I felt like offensively, we kind of found something late against BYU. We were moving the ball well and it felt good to carry it out here and just really happy for that unit tonight.”
Gulbranson may have redeemed himself a little bit with a good game against Boston College, but he is far from out of the woods yet. With nine games left and Stanford nearing the hard part of its schedule, Gulbranson will really need to lock in and show that his performance against Boston College was not a fluke.
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