Davis Warren throws four touchdowns as Stanford holds off NC State 31-28

Stanford went into Friday night having scored seven points or fewer in four of its previous five games against FBS opponents. Against NC State, the Cardinal had more than half that night's total by the end of the first quarter. Davis Warren threw for 303 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-28 win at Stanford Stadium, according to the Associated Press recap on ESPN. The win puts Stanford back at .500 overall at 4-4, and 2-3 in the ACC.

Warren threw touchdown passes on each of Stanford's first two drives, to Nico Brown and Sedrick Irvin. The Cardinal piled up 234 yards in the opening quarter, their most in a first quarter since 2017. That is a big night against Warren's own season numbers: ABC7 San Francisco listed him with seven touchdown passes all season before kickoff. Micah Ford ran for 150 yards. Caden High caught nine passes for 103 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left in the first half that put Stanford ahead 21-14 after NC State had tied the game.

The second half turned on one call. NC State's first drive of the third quarter ended in what looked like a touchdown, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Victor Snow took it off the board, and the Wolfpack ended up punting. Stanford then went 90 yards. A 43-yard pass from Warren to Ford, plus a personal foul tacked on at the end of the play, got the drive going, and Warren finished it with a 5-yard throw to Brown on fourth-and-4 for a 28-14 lead. Will Wilson's second short touchdown run opened the fourth quarter and cut the gap to seven. Stanford answered with a field goal. CJ Bailey, who threw for 256 yards and two scores, hit his second touchdown pass with 1:23 left, but Stanford recovered the onside kick to end the game.

NC State coach Dave Doeren put the loss on himself, saying the Wolfpack were not ready. It was only the program's second game on the West Coast in 66 seasons.

What it means for next week

The win keeps Stanford's bowl hopes alive, but the next three games are where the season will be decided. The Cardinal are 4-1 at home, where the crowd Friday was just 13,949, and 0-3 on the road. They lost those three road games to Duke, Wake Forest and No. 3 Notre Dame by a combined 150-17, which works out to 44.3 points per game. All three of Stanford's next games are away from home. The first is Saturday, Oct. 31, at Louisville (4-3, 3-2 ACC) on ACC Network. The AP noted that Stanford, which has not played in a bowl game since 2018, needs to win at least one of those road games to stay in the running.

Coach Tavita Pritchard had no clear explanation for the gap between home and road results. "If I could explain it, I think it would be a lot better than it is," he told the AP.

NC State (3-4, 1-3) has lost two straight, following a 38-14 home loss to Wake Forest with this cross-country loss. The Wolfpack beat Louisville 31-28 earlier in the season, which gives Stanford a common opponent to measure itself against. NC State plays next on Oct. 31 at home against California (3-4, 2-2 ACC), also on ACC Network.