The Stanford Cardinal defense delivers dramatic finish as Seminoles drop ninth straight ACC game. On an untimed down with the game on the line, Stanford’s defense stood tall. Florida State running back Gavin Sawchuk was stopped just short of the goal line as the clock hit zero, allowing Stanford to escape with a thrilling 20-13 victory on Saturday night.
The dramatic finish handed the Seminoles (3-4, 0-4 ACC) their ninth consecutive conference loss, extending a painful slide for a program that started the year with renewed optimism.
The final sequence was filled with chaos. After backup quarterback Kevin Sperry connected on a 49-yard desperation heave to Micahi Danzy on third-and-22, Florida State found itself on the Stanford 9-yard line with two seconds remaining. On the next play, Stanford’s Che Ojarikre was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, giving the Seminoles one last untimed down from the 2.
Sperry shoveled a short pass to Sawchuk, who fought desperately toward the end zone, but Matt Rose and Jahsiah Galvan met him at the goal line and held firm. After a lengthy replay review, officials confirmed the call on the field — short of the end zone — sparking a wild celebration on the Stanford sideline.
“We talk about finishing every game,” interim coach Frank Reich said afterward. “That was the definition of finishing.”
The stop capped off a clutch night for the Stanford defense, which also came up big earlier in the fourth quarter. The Cardinal stuffed Tommy Castellanos on a fourth-and-2 keeper from the 14-yard line with just over five minutes remaining, then forced a turnover on downs on Florida State’s next drive. Castellanos was later knocked out of the game after a targeting hit by Mitch Leigber, setting the stage for Sperry’s near-miraculous comeback attempt.
Despite surrendering 331 yards, Stanford’s defense held strong when it mattered most, keeping the Seminoles out of the end zone in the second half.
Stanford (3-4, 2-2 ACC) took control early thanks to a costly Florida State penalty. After a missed 30-yard field goal was nullified by an offsides call against Edwin Joseph, the Cardinal capitalized on the free play, as Ben Gulbranson found CJ Williams for a 7-yard touchdown to make it 10-3.
The penalty led to visible frustration on the Seminoles’ sideline, with coach Mike Norvell engaged in a heated exchange with his players — a snapshot of a team struggling to maintain composure amid mounting losses.
Stanford added another field goal before Castellanos scrambled and leapt into the end zone just before halftime, cutting the deficit to 13-10. But Gulbranson was knocked out of the game late in the second quarter, forcing freshman Elijah Brown into action.
The young quarterback responded with poise, leading a 13-play, 94-yard drive in the third quarter capped by Cole Tabb’s 1-yard touchdown run. Tabb, filling in for injured starter Micah Ford, finished with 118 rushing yards on 25 carries, pacing a Stanford offense that controlled possession for nearly 34 minutes.
For Florida State, it was another self-inflicted defeat. The Seminoles were called for a delay of game before their first offensive snap, another before a long missed field goal, and jumped offside on a critical fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter. The special teams blunder on Stanford’s missed field goal turned out to be especially costly.
“We’re just not playing smart football,” Norvell said. “We can’t keep beating ourselves.”
The loss deepens the frustrations for a Florida State team that began the season 3-0 — including a win over Alabama — but has now dropped four straight. The Seminoles have not won a conference game since September 21, 2024, against California.
For Stanford, the victory marks its third straight home win and its third overall win of the season, already matching the total from each of the past four seasons. Under Reich’s interim leadership, and with former Cardinal legend Andrew Luck now serving as general manager, the program appears to be trending in the right direction.
“This team believes again,” Reich said. “We’re building something special here.”
Florida State (3-4, 0-4 ACC): Hosts Wake Forest on Nov. 1. Stanford (3-4, 2-2 ACC): Travels to Miami next Saturday to face the sixth-ranked Hurricanes.
