Ben Gulbranson is Having a Huge Turnaround for Stanford

It was late in the offseason when Stanford got the call. They would be getting a new player on their roster, and it was a quarterback.

After a QB battle that contained dominant high school star Elijah Brown, UCF transfer with starting minutes, Dylan Rizk, and freshman Bear Bachmeier, Bachmeier decided to transfer before even playing a snap.

That meant that Stanford needed a new quarterback for depth purposes. And they found Ben Gulbranson, with hopes that he would at the very least serve as a to mentor Brown and Rizk.

Gulbranson actually looked like a great third string option when he landed on The Farm. As a sixth year senior with some starting experience at Oregon State, including a 7-1 record as a starter, many were intrigued by the signing.

But it wasn’t until a week before the season in August when the shocking news came out. He wasn’t the third string, he wasn’t even the second string. Ben Gulbranson was the starting quarterback for the upcoming season.

Fans were excited, but the first impression against Hawaii wasn’t exactly what was expected. In game one, Gulbranson threw for just 109 yards, completing just 50% of passes, and throwing a crucial interception that led to a loss against Hawaii. People were calling for his job already.

The noise grew even louder the following game, when he threw two interceptions, totaled just 142 passing yards, and completed just 53.1% of his passes as the Cardinal got dominated 27-3 by BYU. Fans wanted the job to go to Brown, and hoped to never see Gulbranson again. But once again, coach Reich elected to keep him the starter, which proved to become a great decision.

In their home opener against Boston College, Gulbranson looked much better. He completed 59.1% of passes, threw for his first touchdown, and didn’t throw any picks. He also produced his season high in yards to that point with 186, as the Cardinal got their first win of the season.

Next, Stanford went on the road, losing badly to Virginia, but Gulbranson looked even better. He threw for 286 yards, a 69% completion percentage, and threw for two touchdowns. Gulbranson looked like he had completely rid himself of the doubters from just a few weeks prior.

This past weekend, Stanford came home to host San José State in a rivalry matchup. Gulbranson had one of the best games of his career. 444 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 67.4 completion percentage, plus late-game heroics led the Cardinal to a 30-29 victory over their rival—and Gulbranson was the hero.

His first two games looked about as ugly as possible, but his last three have completely flipped the switch on Gulbranson's season. He ranks 31st in the nation in passing yards, and is even 20th among power four quarterbacks.

Stanford may be 2-3, but they may just be on the rise after recent performances from Gulbranson. The Cardinal have a real shot to at least break their four-year streak of going 3-9.