STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Micah Ford scored his third touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:41 to play and Stanford rallied after nearly blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat Hawaii 37-27 on Saturday in the first game under new coach Tavita Pritchard.
Davis Warren threw for 310 yards and one touchdown in his debut for the Cardinal and engineered the game-winning drive after Hawaii had scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to turn a 23-7 deficit into a 27-23 lead.
But instead of the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in school history, the Rainbow Warriors fell just short of beating the Cardinal for the second straight year in the season opener with the final attempt at a comeback ending when Micah Alejado fumbled and Tevarua Tafiti returned it 31 yards for the game-sealing touchdown.
Warren made his first start since finishing the 2024 season at Michigan with wins over Ohio State and Alabama. He sat out last season with a knee injury and then transferred to Stanford where he won the starting job this summer.
He went 22 for 34, committed no turnovers and set a career high in yards passing. He threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Atticus Joseph and set up Ford's first two TD runs with long passes, connecting on a 57-yarder to JonAnthony Hall and a 48-yard deep strike to freshman Zion Robinson to the Hawaii 4 on Stanford's first drive of the second half.
He then went 5 for 5 for 58 yards on the game-winning drive.
Alejado went 30 for 50 for 269 yards and two TDs that both came during the fourth quarter comeback. His 29-yarder to DeVon Rice had given Hawaii a 27-23 lead with 4:06 to play.
Hawaii: A sloppy start to the second half on special teams proved costly for the Rainbow Warriors. A botched fair catch on the opening kick of the second half led to a drive starting at the 6. Hawaii couldn't generate a first down and Charlie Eckhardt blocked a punt for a safety.
Stanford: The first game under Pritchard was an exciting one with the Cardinal passing game looking sharp with Warren running a balanced attack. There were five pass catchers with at least 40 yards receiving.
Hawaii hosts UNLV on Saturday.
Stanford hosts No. 7 Miami on Friday.
