Micah Ford is fresh off a historic performance and hoping to build on it when Stanford hosts North Carolina State on Friday night in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Ford notched a career-best 231 scrimmage yards (career-high 179 rushing, 52 receiving) and tied the school single-game record of four rushing touchdowns in the Cardinal’s 34-7 home rout of Elon last Saturday.
“It was honestly just a team effort,” said Ford, who has team highs of 529 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. “Just to see the hard work coming to fruition, it just means a lot.”
It marks the 10th time a Stanford player has rushed for four touchdowns in a game. The most recent was school legend Christian McCaffrey in 2015.
Cardinal quarterback Davis Warren had a pretty good view of Ford’s dominance, which included an 81-yard scamper on Stanford’s first play of the fourth quarter.
“Micah obviously was really good,” Warren said. “To see the run game kick into high gear there in the second half was fun to watch. I’m proud of those guys up front. It’s a team effort to run the football.”
Warren has passed for 1,630 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions for Stanford (3-4, 1-3 ACC).
The Wolfpack (3-3, 1-2) had a bye last week after being smashed 38-14 by visiting Wake Forest on Oct. 10.
“Great timing for us in many ways,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said of the bye. “Players and coaches alike, after six games gives you a chance to recover, to rest, to reset, and then to reflect and study.”
One area of study was how to treat the long trip for a game starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. The Wolfpack decided to practice late at night in Raleigh, fly to the Bay Area on Wednesday and practice at the scheduled game time that night in an effort to adjust to the early-morning hours they’ll experience on game night.
“That’s a challenge,” Doeren said. “Obviously, you’re at 1:30 in the morning in the fourth quarter. Done a lot of research on these east to west coast trips. … So that’s what we’re doing and looking forward to the opportunity to go out there and play Stanford.”
NC State quarterback CJ Bailey has passed for 1,507 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions this season. Top target Keenan Jackson has 27 receptions for 400 yards and five touchdowns.
Leading rusher Jayden “Duke” Scott (foot) remains day-to-day, according to Doeren. Scott was injured during a 31-28 home win over Louisville on Oct. 3 and missed the Wake Forest game prior to the bye. He has rushed for 358 yards and four scores.
NC State routed visiting Stanford 59-28 two years ago in the programs’ lone meeting. Bailey completed 18 of 20 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns.