Sedrick Irvin scored on a 1-yard run with 19 seconds left to lift Stanford to a 30-29 win against visiting San Jose State on Saturday night in Stanford, Calif.
The Cardinal drove 80 yards in 12 plays on the final drive, getting a first down on fourth-and-10 on a 34-yard catch by Caden High with 1:12 remaining.
Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson recorded 444 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-43 passing.
CJ Williams caught 12 passes for 138 yards, and High caught five passes for 110 yards for the Cardinal (2-3).
San Jose quarterback Walker Eget completed 36-of-58 passes for 481 yards and three touchdowns.
Three receivers went over 100 yards for the Spartans (1-3).
Kyri Shoels caught 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, Danny Scudero caught 11 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and Leland Smith finished with six receptions for 101 yards.
Cole Tabb scored on an 8-yard run to cap an 11-play, 81-yard opening drive by Stanford and give it an early 7-0 lead.
Denis Lynch cut it to 7-3 with a 41-yard field on San Jose State’s opening drive.
The Spartans recovered a fumble at the Stanford 24 following a sack, leading to a 10-yard touchdown reception by Scudero, giving San Jose State a 10-7 lead with 55 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Lynch booted a 36-yarder to extend the lead to 13-7 with 7:59 remaining in the first half, but Stanford quickly answered with a seven-play, 77-yard drive and retook the lead, 14-13, on a 15-yard touchdown catch by Sam Roush with 4:06 left in the half.
The Spartans came back with a 29-yard touchdown grab by Shoels to move back in front 20-14 with 1:59 left in the half.
Lynch missed a 28-yarder with 59 seconds left in the half and a 29-yarder from the same right hash with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter, his sixth missed field goal of the season.
The Spartans didn’t rely on Lynch the next time they got close to the end zone, instead scoring on a 5-yard touchdown catch by Scudero. The two-point conversion try was no good, leaving the score at 26-14 with 14:15 left in the game.
Stanford then marched down the field and cut the deficit to 26-21 on a 14-yard touchdown catch by Myles Libman with 12:19 left.
Lynch came back out and nailed a 31-yard field goal from the same right hash marks to extend the lead to 29-21 with 7:50 left.
A 54-yard reception by Micah Ford helped lead Stanford to the San Jose State 18, but the Cardinal had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Emmet Kenney that cut the deficit to 29-24 with 5:54 left.
