Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for a career-high three touchdowns to lead the host Miami Hurricanes to a 42-7 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Fletcher Jr. totaled 106 yards on 23 carries and scored all three of his touchdowns in the third quarter to help the No. 9-ranked Hurricanes (6-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) break open a close game by scoring the game’s final 42 points after trailing 7-0 for most of the first half.
Stanford (3-5, 2-3) has still not won back-to-back games this season and dropped to 0-5 on the road.
The Hurricanes were held scoreless until Carson Beck lobbed a fade pass into the corner of the end zone, which C.J. Daniels snagged despite tight coverage for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:15 left in the second quarter.
Miami’s defense forced a pair of turnovers, which helped the Hurricanes score 21 more points in the third quarter, including a pair of Fletcher touchdown runs that followed interceptions by Wesley Bissainthe and Xavier Lucas, who also recorded a sack.
Fletcher’s first touchdown from 1 yard out with 9:34 left in the third broke a 7-7 tie. Malachi Toney caught five passes for 52 yards and set up that score with a 31-yard punt return to the Stanford 40-yard line.
Beck bounced back from a dismal performance in last week’s loss to Louisville where he threw four interceptions. Beck did not turn the ball over and completed 21 of 28 passes for 189 yards and the lone touchdown toss.
Cardinal quarterback Ben Gulbranson put Stanford ahead with 4:35 left in the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Caden High, which capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive. Stanford mustered only 70 total yards following that opening series.
But Gulbranson was held to only 50 yards passing on 9 of 21 attempts and threw the two costly interceptions in the third quarter. Gulbranson was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Elijah Brown, who completed 3 of 5 passes for 39 yards on one drive.
Stanford has some success rushing the ball led by Cole Tabb, who followed up his strong performance against Florida State last week with 64 yards on 19 carries.
