The Highs and Lows of Stanford's Loss to Virginia

On the bright side, however, after Virginia's opening drive of seven plays for 65 yards and a score, Stanford was able to earn a first down on three plays in their second drive, then QB Ben Gulbranson found sixth year wide out Bryce Farrell for a 60 yard score to tie the game at seven apiece.

While the rest of the game kind of got away from Stanford, for them to answer back quickly on the road was a big statement. That said, as this game evolved, it became clear that the Cardinal would have to keep up with Virginia offensively, and they just don't have the firepower on offense to get into a shootout at this stage of the rebuilding process for the program.

Virginia followed up that statement touchdown from Stanford with a statement of their own, with QB Morris Chandler finding WR Trell Harris for a 75 yard score to put them back in front. It was Harris' second touchdown of the game halfway through the first quarter, and he'd add a third before the start of the second.

The other big plus from this game was the performance of Gulbranson, who has really begun growing into the starting role with each passing game. In this one, he ended up completing 20 of 29 passes for 286 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Coming into this game, his completion percentage had been hovering around 50% through three games, so this was a big step in the right direction.

The emergence of Farrell has been apparent for a few games now, and in this one he had that big 60 yard score, and ended the evening with four catches on five targets for 135 yards and a TD.

CJ Williams had a breakout game of his own, catching nine passes for 103 yards. What really stands out is not only the nine receptions, but also that he was targeted 13 times in the passing game. With Micah Ford not able to get going in the run game in this one (13 carries for 33 yards), seeing another option in the passing game was a huge plus.

One concerning factor to continue to keep an eye on is that tight end Sam Roush didn't have a catch in this game. Obviously he's a captain of the team and a player that the Cardinal would like to have as a focal point of the offense, but he's caught just seven passes this season for 87 yards in four games. 69 of those yards came on one play.

Stanford will have work to do in the coming days as they prepare for their next matchup against San Jose State at home, but that will be a winnable game for the Cardinal if they can play their brand of football.