Stanford quarterback Ben Gulbranson has had a solid first year with the Cardinal after transferring from Oregon State. He’s had the most opportunity to lead a team in his career this year, and has left his mark positively on the Cardinal community.
In eight games this season, Gulbranson has thrown for 1,585 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions. His numbers don’t even tell the full story, as the Cardinal have won multiple games as double digit underdogs, going 3-0 at home, and are one win away from breaking their infamous 3-9 streak.
Stanford on SI spoke with Gulbranson following Wednesday’s practice, where the sixth year senior participated in practice, and looked as healthy as he has been over the past two weeks. He missed the second half against Florida State and gave way to Elijah Brown after a hard tackle in the Miami game.
“I’m feeling better, practicing better, all that. Yeah, I feel good. The training staff here is doing a good job of getting me right, getting me active. And yeah I’m just grateful to be able to go out there and play every game that I got.”
The Stanford QB was not listed on Thursday’s injury report. Despite a loss and poor statistical performance from Gulbranson, many positives came out of the first half that he and the program are looking to build upon.
“The defense obviously came out, and getting a three and out there was huge, and then we were able to go down there and run our up tempo package. And yeah, a great start to the game, and kind of hung with them.”
Oct 25, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ben Gulbranson (15) hands off the ball to running back Cole Tabb (33) during the first quarter the at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
He then reassured fans that the second half wasn’t his best, but he’s improving each day. “In the second half, I made some mistakes out there, and just left some stuff out there that I wish I could have back, but I like how we started the game, and obviously we’re working on fixing the things that we need to fix.”
Gulbranson is undefeated on The Farm, starting the yeaar 3-0, and now he gets to play in his first afternoon atmosphere. “Anytime we get to play at home it’s a great opportunity for us to play in front of our fans. I think we play really well at home, being 3-0 so far, and we enjoy playing in Stanford Stadium. We’re looking forward to this opportunity against a good Pittsburgh team.”
Pitt’s defense has been elite the past few weeks, but Gulbranson hopes to eliminate that this weekend.
“Pitt’s a great defense and they do a lot of things that’s challenging for an offense and, yeah, we just gotta be on top of our stuff at practice and prepare hard and go out there and execute to the best we can.”
Stanford has a thrilling matchup this weekend against Pitt, where Gulbranson hopes to, once again, take over the game and win for the Cardinal. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (PT) and will be available to watch on the ACC Network.