STANFORD, Calif. — Sedrick Irvin scored on a 1-yard run with 19 seconds left to cap Stanford's rally from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat San Jose State 30-29 on Saturday.
The Spartans (1-3) went up 26-14 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter on Walker Eget's third touchdown pass of the day.
But Ben Gulbranson drove the Cardinals (2-3) to three straight scores to generate the thrilling win. He threw a 14-yard TD pass to Myles Libman and led Stanford to a field goal — a 36-yarder by Emmet Kenney — that made it 29-24.
Stanford then got the ball back for one last drive and Gulbranson converted a fourth-and-10 with a 34-yard pass to Caden High and threw a 14-yarder to CJ Williams to get the ball to the 1. Irvin ran it in on the next play.
Gulbranson finished 29 for 43 for 444 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinal, the third-most passing yards by a Stanford quarterback in school history.
Stanford had multiple receivers with over 100 receiving yards for the second consecutive game: Williams (138) and High (110). The last time the Cardinal had this happen was during the 1998 season.
Eget went 36 for 58 for 473 yards and three TDs but couldn't lead a last-ditch drive and the Spartans fell short of their first road win against Stanford since 2000.
Stanford drove 81 yards on the opening possession to take the lead on Cole Tabb's 8-yard run. But the Spartans controlled most of the rest of the half and led 20-14 at the break thanks to TD passes from Eget to Danny Scudero and Kyri Shoels.
The Cardinal improves to 2-0 at home for the first time since 2018, the team's last bowl game appearance.
Up next, the Cardinal enjoys a bye week before visiting SMU on Oct. 11.