Stanford finally looked like the offense Tavita Pritchard and Terry Heffernan had been imagining.
On Friday night at Stanford Stadium, the Cardinal put together the kind of balanced outing that had been missing all season, and it was enough to knock off N.C. State 31-28.
Stanford got a 303-yard, four-touchdown performance from Davis Warren, a 150-yard rushing night from Micah Ford and a 103-yard receiving game from Caden High. It was the first time Stanford had produced a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the same game since 2015.
That kind of spread-the-load attack mattered because Stanford entered the night last in the ACC in scoring offense. Instead, the Cardinal hit the Wolfpack early and kept making the right plays when the game tightened.
Stanford scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, and High was right in the middle of the opening surge. Coming off a broken collarbone suffered in fall camp that cost him the season opener, he caught six passes for 76 yards on the first two drives. The first possession ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Nico Brown, and the second finished with a 17-yard touchdown catch by running back Sedrick Irvin.
“What I was really proud of was the way that we started the game,” Pritchard said. “I thought we punched first.”
N.C. State answered to tie things at 14-14 in the middle of the second quarter, but Stanford responded with a sharp two-minute drive before halftime. Warren was perfect on the march, completing all six of his passes for 85 yards before finding High for a 26-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half.
Pritchard also showed he was willing to roll the dice. Stanford tried a fourth-and-20 from the N.C. State 34 and turned it over on downs, but later converted a fourth-and-4 from the 5-yard line into a touchdown pass to Brown that pushed the lead to 28-14.
“Happy with how our guys played for four quarters and played focused throughout,” Pritchard said. “That’s a heck of a win for our ballclub.”
Ford kept his recent tear rolling. After running for four touchdowns in last week’s win over Elon, he followed that up by becoming the first Stanford player to rush for at least 150 yards in back-to-back games since Bryce Love in 2017. He also added 58 receiving yards, making him the first Stanford running back with at least 50 receiving yards in consecutive games since Christian McCaffrey in 2015.
The win pushed Stanford to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, while N.C. State dropped to 3-4 and 1-3.
It also lifted the Cardinal to 4-1 at home, with the only defeat coming against current No. 1 Miami.
Even with that success, the crowd was a season-low 13,949 on Friday night.
“We can’t control - people want to call it the library - how many people show up, anything like that,” Warren said. “Doesn’t matter to us.
What matters is defending our home turf. We talk about as a team, they have to pay the price of admission to come in here to Stanford Stadium and play us.
I think we’ve done a pretty good job of defending our home turf. We take a lot of pride in that.”
Stanford is also 4-0 since joining the ACC when hosting conference opponents from the Eastern Time Zone for a 7:30 p.m. PT kickoff.
The bigger test now is away from home. Stanford has dropped all three road games this season by 28, 54 and 51 points, and it heads into three straight road trips at Louisville, Virginia Tech and Cal before coming back for its final home game against SMU.
“I think it’s really about our continued growth as a program to be at our best and perform at our best no matter where we are,” Pritchard said. “We’re going to keep working towards that. I can stand up here and talk about it, but it’s really about us putting our money where our mouth is and actually doing those things and getting it done.”
In Other News...
Stanford Just Helped Spark A Stunning ACC Coaching Shakeup
Dave Doerens long run at NC State came to an abrupt end this week after 14 seasons, with the Wolfpack parting ways with the coach after a 3-4 start to the 2026 campaign. Athletic director Boo Corrigan thanked Doeren for his service and leadership during his tenure, a span that included plenty of stability but also a program that had started to slip back in the crowded ACC race.
The timing adds another layer for Stanford, which had just been part of the picture in a tight result that clearly sharpened the pressure around Raleigh. Doeren leaves NC State with a 98-73 overall record and a 52-57 mark in ACC play, numbers that reflect both the success of his best years and the frustration of more recent seasons, even as the search now begins for the next voice to reset the Wolfpack. [Read more 🡒]
Stanford Just Sparked An ACC Coaching Drama Fans Will Watch
A loss at Stanford turned into a major reset for NC State, where the fallout reached all the way to the sideline. Dave Doeren is out after 14 seasons in Raleigh, closing a run that produced a 98-74 record and gave the Wolfpack a long stretch of stability before a 3-4 start and a 1-3 mark in ACC play pushed the program into a new chapter.
Now the attention shifts to who might be next, and one name already circulating will grab plenty of interest around the conference. Philip Rivers, the former NC State quarterback and NFL veteran, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, though his coaching background is limited to the high school level for now, leaving the search very much in the early stages. [Read more 🡒]
Stanford Just Got The ACC Boost Cardinal Fans Needed
Stanford needed a lift in ACC play, and it got one in front of its home crowd at Stanford Stadium, where the Cardinal outlasted N.C. State 31-28 behind a sharp night from Davis Warren. The quarterback found the end zone four times, and Stanfords passing game had enough rhythm to keep the Wolfpack from taking control, with Caden High and Nico Brown each making timely catches as the Cardinal steadied its season.
The win moved Stanford to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference, a useful step as it tries to build momentum in its first season of real ACC traction. Just as important, it preserved Stanfords recent comfort in these East Coast matchups under the lights at home, the kind of result that can matter in a league where every week seems to ask for a little more proof. [Read more 🡒]