Kaiden Bennett threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Fulcher with 1:32 remaining and visiting Sacramento State held on for a 30-23 upset over host Stanford on Saturday night.
Stanford is coached by Troy Taylor, who left Sacramento State after four years to take the job in Palo Alto, Calif., last December.
Bennett completed 21 of 33 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 100 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.
Ashton Daniels played the first half at quarterback for Stanford, completing 4 of 7 passes for 69 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Justin Lamson went 7-for-17 in the second half for 138 yards and an interception.
Stanford running back E.J. Smith rushed for 71 yards on nine carries.
Stanford (1-2) scored on its first possession as Casey Filkins ran into the end zone on a 1-yard run to cap a 13-play 79-yard drive and give the Cardinal a 7-0 lead with 6:34 left in the first quarter.
Sacramento State (3-0) followed with a 13-play drive of its own and reached the Stanford 2-yard line but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Zach Schreiner that made it 7-3.
The Cardinal answered with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Elic Ayomanor, extending the lead to 14-3 with 13:07 left in the first half.
The Hornets reeled off another 13-play drive, this time reaching the end zone with 35 seconds left in the half on a 2-yard touchdown run by Bennett, to put Sacramento State up 17-14.
The Cardinal took the second-half kickoff and settled for a 41-yard field goal by Joshua Karty, tying the score 17-17.
The Cardinal stifled a scoring chance when Scotty Edwards intercepted a pass near the Stanford goal line, but Lamson gave the ball right back when he was intercepted on the next play at the Cardinal 21.
That turnover led to a 22-yard field goal by Schreiner and a 20-17 lead with 2:25 left in the third.
Karty answered with a 40-yard field goal on the ensuing drive for the Cardinal, tying the score 20-20 with 13:30 left.
Collin Wright’s interception led to Karty’s third field goal of the game, a 39-yarder that gave the Cardinal a 23-20 lead with 8:53 left.
Schreiner promptly matched Karty with a 44-yard field with 4:19 remaining to tie the score again 23-23.
–Field Level Media