Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Trell Harris (11) makes a catch over the Stanford Cardinal cornerback Collin Wright (6) in first half action at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville VA on Sat Sep 20, 2025 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
The Virginia Cavaliers (3-1) defense just stuck it to the Stanford Cardinal (1-3) on Saturday at Scott Stadium. The Cardinal just couldn’t get any offense going scoring only 14 points in the first half and six points in the third quarter to keep up with the Cavaliers and picking up their third loss of the season 48-20.
Virginia got right after it in the first quarter taking an early 7-0 lead in the opening minutes. Quarterback Chandler Morris found Trell Harris for three yards and the touchdown. Stanford answered right back scoring in the first quarter at 8:27.
Five plays later quarterback Ben Gulbranson drove downfield for 76 yards and a touchdown to tie up the game seven apiece. Gulbranson found Benji Blackburn for five yards and the touchdown to even this game.
Virginia scored a second touchdown in the first quarter extending their lead to 14-7. Quarterback Chandler Morris threw a bomb downfield to Trell Harris for 75 yards and a touchdown. The Cavaliers went on a run for the rest of the quarter. with Morris again finding Harris, this time a 27 yard pass and Virginia had a 21-7 lead going into the second quarter.
The Cardinal were able to keep stride with Virginia in the second half of this game. The Cavaliers did score first in the second quarter to push their lead out to 28-7. Morris rushed for 13 yards and the touchdown.
The Cardinal were able to score in the final seconds of the half. They took the ball downfield; 80 yards in less than 90 seconds. Micah Ford rushed for 3 yards and the score keeping this a two-touchdown game. The Cardinal were able to match the Cavaliers in the second quarter. Virginia would start the second half with the ball.
The Cavaliers picked up where they left off in the second quarter driving downfield with ease for their fifth touchdown of the day taking a 35-14 lead. Morris connected with Sage Ennis for 13 yards and the score.
This was Morris’ fourth touchdown of the day. The Cavaliers would go on to extend their lead 38-14 kicking their first field goal of the day, a 27 yard Will Bettridge boot. With 5:35 left in the quarter, Stanford had a lot of work to do.
Gulbranson got right to work airing out the ball with just over four minutes left in the quarter for 68 yards caught in stride by Bryce Farrell, his first touchdown this season. The two-point attempt failed and the Cardinal trailed 38-20. Gulbranson had completed a number of impressive passes so far in this game.
Going into the fourth quarter Virginia had established a 38-20 lead looking for their third win of the season. Virginia would drive into the red zone early in the quarter threatening to extend their lead.
Unable to score the touchdown, Virginia kicked their second field goal of the day pushing their lead back out to three touchdowns 41-20. The Cavaliers had their third sack of the game resulting in a Stanford fumble and Virginia had forced the first turnover of the game with under nine minutes left on the clock.
The Cavaliers were back in business in Stanford territory. They would to on to score their sixth touchdown of the night taking a 48-20 lead. Stanford did drive deep into Virginia territory in the final minutes but failed to score. They attempted a field goal at the end but it failed.
Game notes: Saturday evening the Cardinal traveled back east for a matchup with the Cavaliers. Virginia came into this game a 15+ point favorite. The Cardinal faced a power-house offense that put their defense to the test.
The Cavaliers were averaging 265 yards per game. Looking at the Stanford offense, Cardinal quarterback Ben Gulbranson was challenged by the Virginia defense all afternoon. After starting this season and looking like probably the worst Power Four team in football Stanford went out and upset Boston College last week 30-20 despite being a two-touchdown underdog.
Boston had some unfortunate plays and monster mistakes that resulted in the loss. Now the Cardinal travel cross country to take on the Cavaliers who have not not been overly impressive but they may not have to be in this matchup.
Virginia went down to the the wire against NC State, a road game, in their only loss. They blew away Coastal Carolina 48-7 and W & M 55-13. Stanford didn’t pose much of a threat to the Cavaliers. Stanford really struggled with passing issues.
Going forward the Cardinal could run into a lot of trouble against east teams. Virginia had a balanced attack through the air, as well as on the ground. In this game being played at home the Cavaliers they just ran away with this game.
Despite the lop-sided score Stanford was competitive in this game for much of the time. They had some really nice passing plays but just did not have the consistency needed to overcome the Cavaliers. Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson finished with 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bryce Farrell had 135 receiving yards.
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