Ford Kept Stanford’s Revival Moving Between the Touchdown Passes

The touchdown passes belonged to Davis Warren. Much of the work that kept Stanford’s offense from depending entirely on them belonged to Micah Ford.

Ford ran for 150 yards Friday, helping Stanford beat NC State 31-28 at Stanford Stadium. Warren supplied four touchdown passes and 303 passing yards, while the Cardinal finished with 477 yards in all. It was enough offense to survive an opponent that erased an early two-touchdown deficit and remained close until the final onside kick.

That combination makes the victory encouraging. Stanford did not ask its quarterback to create every useful gain. Ford’s rushing supplied most of the team’s 174 yards on the ground, and his receiving helped a consequential scoring drive as well.

For a team that finished the night 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, several sources of production are worth more than a single impressive passing line.

One early fourth down illustrates the contribution. Ford gained two yards on fourth-and-one near midfield during the possession that ended with Warren’s touchdown pass to Sedrick Irvin. The conversion was short and necessary. Without it, the offense would have handed the ball over before the eventual scoring throw became available. Ford did not need to produce a spectacular run to keep the drive useful.

Warren’s first two touchdown throws, to Nico Brown and Irvin, established a 14-0 lead. NC State answered and tied the score. That response is part of the measure of Stanford’s night: a productive start was valuable, but the Cardinal needed more offense once the initial cushion disappeared.

They found it before halftime. A 90-yard possession ended with Warren connecting with Caden High for a 26-yard touchdown with 25 seconds remaining. Ford contributed early in that march, while successive completions moved Stanford into scoring position.

High eventually finished with 103 receiving yards and the touchdown. Brown supplied two scoring catches across the game, giving Warren more than one reliable destination for his most important throws.

The balance also appeared in a different form after halftime. Ford turned a completion into a 43-yard gain, with an additional personal-foul penalty advancing Stanford farther. Ford supplied production as a receiver in addition to his rushing work, helping Stanford advance on a drive that still needed several more plays to reach the end zone.

Stanford ultimately faced fourth-and-four near the goal line on that possession. Warren’s five-yard touchdown pass to Brown made it 28-14. The decision to continue the drive yielded a substantial reward: seven points and a renewed two-score lead. The shorter conversion and Ford’s earlier gain belonged in the same account as the scoring throw.

NC State again made the lead uncomfortable with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Stanford answered by moving downfield for Emmet Kenney’s 31-yard field goal with 8:27 left. Ford’s runs helped keep that possession going. The field goal restored a ten-point margin, which mattered when the Wolfpack later scored another touchdown.

There is plenty to prevent an extravagant reading of the offense’s revival. NC State finished with 381 yards and committed no turnovers. Its touchdown on the opening third-quarter possession was erased after officials called offensive pass interference before a punt gave Stanford the ball.

The Cardinal benefited from that sequence, and the late opponent touchdown still forced an onside-kick recovery before Stanford could kneel out the remaining time.

Nor does beating a 3-4 opponent turn one productive night into a permanent transformation. Stanford has won four of its five home games, an encouraging return that still required surviving a three-point game Friday. Its own zero-turnover night helped the offense make its production count without handing the opponent another short route back into the game.

Ford gave Stanford several different useful plays: a short conversion, substantial rushing yardage, a long gain as a receiver and work on a fourth-quarter scoring possession. Warren’s four touchdown passes finished the most visible assignments. The offense lasted long enough to win because its running back had more than one way to keep those assignments available.

Sources

Stanford: official game report

ESPN: box score and play-by-play