STANFORD – The pass from Ben Gulbranson bounced off the hands of Pittsburgh cornerback Rashad Battle right to Stanford receiver CJ Williams, who ran it in for a 35-yard score to give Stanford the early lead.
“I guess when the football gods are on your side a little bit, the play tends to go your way,” Williams said. “Obviously a crazy touchdown. I’ve never seen that before.”
But Stanford’s luck quickly ran out.
Gulbranson went on to throw three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, and could have easily thrown more before getting pulled late in the third quarter, as Pittsburgh beat Stanford 35-20 Saturday afternoon at Stanford Stadium.
Pitt (7-2, 5-1 ACC) has won five in a row and has averaged 40 points a game since freshman Mason Hentschel took over as the starting quarterback.
But Stanford’s pass defense held for much of the game despite missing top corner Collin Wright and top safety Jay Green due to injury. Heintschel completed 23 of 38 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns, but he was intercepted twice in the end zone by sophomore Brandon Nicholson and lost two fumbles.
The first fumble was forced by Jashiah Galvan and recovered by Ernest Cooper at the Pitt 36. Two plays later came the tipped pass-turned-TD that made it 10-7 in favor of Stanford (3-6, 2-4), which had won four straight at home dating back to last season.
But the 14-point underdogs couldn’t keep pace once Pitt was able to take advantage of poor throws. Gulbranson was intercepted in the second quarter while throwing into double coverage, and then was picked off on the next possession while underthrowing a pass to Sam Roush. Finally, Pitt went up 35-13 midway through the third quarter when Shawn Lee Jr. stepped in front of an out route by Caden High and scored on a 30-yard interception return.
Gulbranson hasn’t looked the same since injuring his knee two weeks ago against Florida State. He was 17 of 30 passing for 228 yards after going 9 of 21 for 50 yards and two interceptions last week at Miami.
Gulbranson wasn’t helped by a leaky offensive line – Pitt had five sacks for a loss of 46 yards – or the complete lack of a running game.
Expecting a shootout, Stanford went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 37 on the opening drive. Cole Tabb was stuffed for a 2-yard loss, and Pitt scored four plays later to go up 7-0. It was a sign of things to come.
Playing without starter Micah Ford, who was also injured against FSU, the Cardinal running backs had 21 carries for 36 yards. Factoring in sacks, Stanford finished with negative-10 yards on the ground.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Brown, who led a 94-yard touchdown drive against the Seminoles, led a 97-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
After the game, interim coach Frank Reich wouldn’t directly address Gulbranson’s play.
“I’ve learned over the years, don’t just jump the gun,” Reich said. “I’m not looking to point fingers.
“I’m just looking to figure out how we get better. So, we have to go back and look at the mistakes that we made. We have to look at the opportunities that we missed, and we have to figure out why we didn’t run the ball better. Those are the things we have to take a close look at.”
Williams (7 catches for 122 yards) had his fourth 100-yard game of the season, while Roush, a senior, had eight catches for a career-high 104 yards.
The Cardinal can still reach five wins for the first time since 2018. It plays its last road game next Saturday against North Carolina before finishing up at home against Cal and Notre Dame.
“Told the guys that we have to get ready to go next week,” Reich said. “You know, that’s what we love to do. We love to go to work. That is a big part of the college experience when you’re at Stanford. You work hard every week, and a lot of our goals are still in front of us, but that starts with (going) 1-0 this week against Carolina.”
