Micah Ford rushed for a career-high 157 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown to lead Stanford to a 30-20 win on Saturday night over Boston College at Palo Alto, Calif.
The game was the home opener for Stanford (1-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) after the Cardinal opened the season losing at Hawaii and BYU. The win was their first under interim coach Frank Reich.
Boston College (1-2, 0-1) lost despite former Alabama quarterback Dylan Lonergan passing for 333 yards while completing 30 of 44 passes with a touchdown and an interception.
Stanford gained 213 yards on the ground on 37 carries.
The Cardinal’s final possession, consisting of 12 rushing plays, took the last 7:36 off the clock. They achieved four first downs in the drive.
Toward the end of the third quarter, a 75-yard run by Ford was followed by his 5-yard scoring run.
The touchdown with 1:35 left in the third quarter put Stanford ahead 27-20.
After a three-and-out for Boston College, Ford started Stanford’s following possession with a 31-yard run.
Emmet Kenney finished the possession with a 26-yard field goal with 11:26 left.
The teams each scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and converted two field goals in the first half for a 20-20 tie at halftime.
Kenney accounted for the scoring in the first quarter with field goals of 23 and 35 yards.
Boston College scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter, beginning with a 51-yard field goal by Luca Lombardo.
Lonergan’s 49-yard scoring strike to Turbo Richard was followed in the next possession with a 46-yard pass from Lonergan to Jordan McDonald that set up another touchdown.
McDonald scored on a 2-yard run following the connection with Lonergan, giving Boston College a 17-6 lead with 8:04 left in the second quarter.
Stanford scored two touchdowns in the last 1:47 of the half to take a 20-17 lead.
After Ben Gulbranson completed a 69-yard touchdown pass to Sam Roush with 1:47 remaining in the second quarter, Collin Wright returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown on Boston College’s second play of the next possession.
Boston College, starting at its 25, managed to get a last-second 31-yard field goal by Lombardo heading into halftime.
