SAN JOSE, California — With a twenty-point second-quarter lead over San Jose State, Stanford looked to be washing out the bad taste of last week’s loss to Oregon. But the Spartans scored 21 unanswered points and forced a turnover on Stanford’s last drive for a 35-34 victory at Spartan Stadium.

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Alvin Chow

Senior quarterback Trent Edwards hands off to true freshman runningback Toby Gerhart. Gerhart, a Norco, Calif. native, led the Cardinal in rushing through three games with 177 yards.

Yonus Davis rushed for 184 yards and Adam Tafralis threw for 110 yards on 14 for 16 passing as the Spartans (1-1, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) probed Stanford’s poor defensive depth and tackling, and shut out the offensive attack for the last two periods. The scoreless second half for Stanford (0-2, 0-1 Pac-10) spoiled an impressive afternoon by Trent Edwards — 18-for-28 passing for 233 yards and four touchdowns — and breakout games by freshmen Toby Gerhart (82 rushing yards) and Richard Sherman (6 receptions for 71 yards and one touchdown.)

With the clock winding down, Stanford looked to march down the field for a game-winning score. But after Trent Edwards completed a pass to Evan Moore over the middle at the San Jose State 42, two Spartan players stripped the ball and a third recovered the fumble. The play was reviewed by the officials and the ruling stood. One play later Patrick Perry busted up the middle for a 15-yard gain, and Spartans ran out the last 1:20 on the clock. Spartan fans flooded the field along with jubilant players.

The game was scheduled to be the first game in the new Stanford Stadium, but the contest was moved due to concerns the stadium would not be ready in time. Instead, 29,321 packed the house for San Jose State’s biggest victory since it beat then-undefeated TCU in 2000.

The Spartans dug themselves a hole with three first-half turnovers. After forcing Stanford to punt on their second offensive series, Dwight Lowery muffed the kick and Stanford recovered at the 17-yard line. Sherman went over the middle and caught his first career touchdown on the next play.

Following the score, a substitution problem resulted in a delay-of-game penalty, moving the Cardinal back five yards. Aaron Zagory’s extra-point attempt went wide left; the missing point would end up haunting Stanford by game’s end.

On the ensuing kickoff, confusion resulted in the Spartans not fielding the kick. Stanford recovered the live ball, setting up Edwards’ fourth-down touchdown pass to Evan Moore.

An interception later led to a 1-yard run by fullback Nick Frank, and second-quarter touchdown passes to tight end James Dray and Moore rounded out the scoring as Stanford built a 34-14 lead.

The Cardinal sealed their fate with their own second-half miscues. After back-to-back touchdowns had cut the lead to six, tailback Anthony Kimble coughed up the football on a screen pass at the Spartan 27. San Jose State took just two plays to score. Davis ripped the defense for a 31-yard gain, and then receiver James Jones took a reverse-action pitch a spectacular 42 yards for the go-head score, faking out three Stanford defenders, reversing field and riding a block from Tafralis the final 20 yards to the end zone. In a dubious distinction, the thrilling run was rated the Top Play on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Facing third-and-goal at the 10 yard line on the following drive, Edwards threw to Moore in the back of the end zone. Lowery atoned for his muff by stepping in front of the low and late pass for an interception, killing the Cardinal’s best chance at a second-half score.

San Jose State had given up 300 rushing yards in the previous week’s 35-29 loss at Washington, but this week it was the Spartans’ turn as they gashed the Stanford defense for 342 yards on the ground. Shotgun-option plays to the left side flummoxed linebacker Clinton Snyder and cornerback Wopamo Osaisai, while power dives and zone plays by Davis and Perry punched at the core of the defense. San Jose State’s highly multiple offense also saw single-wing formations, receiver sweeps and a deep pass to Jones that gave the Spartans a first and goal at the six.

Spartans coach Dick Tomey raised his career record against Stanford to 10-2, the first eleven of those games as head coach at Arizona. Edwards praised the Spartans’ effort after the game, saying “I have a lot of respect for San Jose State and their coaching staff and players, and I think the better team won today.”

In a season where four Division I-A teams have lost to Division I-AA opponents, the upset brought back bitter memories of last season’s 20-17 home loss to I-AA UC-Davis. In that game, the offense was held to 3 points as the Aggies outgained the Cardinal by a 2-to-1 margin. UC-Davis scored the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds remaining, one play after Nick Sanchez’s would-be game-ending interception was incorrectly ruled incomplete.