STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Stanford dropped its home opener Saturday night, falling to Sacramento State, 30-23.
Kaiden Bennett narrowly avoided a sack to throw a 49-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 to play, flinging a short pass to Marcus Fulcher just before his knee touched the ground and Fulcher did the rest from there to score for the Hornets (3-0).
Stanford (1-2) took a 23-20 lead early in the fourth quarter when Joshua Karty kicked his third field goal of the game on a score set up by Collin Wright's interception.
The Hornets answered with a 44-yarder from Zach Schreiner to tie the game with 4:13 to play. They then forced a punt to set up the winning score.
The Cardinal used two QBs with Ashton Daniels starting. He threw a 51-yard TD pass to Elic Ayomanor and had an interception before being replaced by Justin Lamson to start the third quarter. Lamson went 7 for 18 for 138 yards and also threw an interception.
Stanford scored touchdowns on its first two possessions to take a 14-3 lead and appeared in position to take control after recovering a surprise onside kick. The Cardinal drove into the red zone before Daniels threw a deflected pass that Caleb Nelson intercepted in the end zone.
The Hornets then put together back-to-back long touchdown drives and took a 17-14 lead following Bennett's 1-yard keeper with 35 seconds left in the half.
Sacramento State won its school-record 22nd straight regular season game at Taylor's expense, sending Stanford to its second loss ever to an FCS-level school. The Cardinal lost to UC Davis in 2005.
Taylor took over the Cardinal after going 30-8 in four seasons and leading the Hornets to their first berth in the FCS quarterfinals in school history last season. Many of his former players are still at Sacramento State and his former defensive coordinator, Andy Thompson, replaced him as coach.
Stanford hosts Arizona on Saturday.