Stanford 20, San Jose State 17: Jordan Williamson kicked the go-ahead field goal early in the fourth quarter as No. 18 Stanford fended off an upset bid by visiting San Jose State.

Stepfan Taylor rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinal, who squandered a two-touchdown halftime lead in their first game of the post-Andrew Luck era. Luck was the top overall draft pick in last April’s NFL draft.

Williamson’s 20-yard field goal with 13:15 to play put Stanford ahead and Ed Reynolds intercepted a fourth-down pass with 1:10 remaining to seal the victory and hand San Jose State its 20th loss in a row against nationally ranked teams dating back to 2000.

Stanford’s Josh Nunes was 16-of-26 passing for 124 yards in his first career start.

San Jose State trailed 17-3 at halftime before dominating the third quarter behind junior college transfer David Fales, who finished 24-of-35 passing for 216 yards.

Blake Jurich scored on a 3-yard run to complete a nine-play, 79-yard drive to pull the Spartans within seven and Fales tossed a 21-yard scoring aerial to Noel Grigsby to end a 12-play, 82-yard drive that tied the contest with 2:17 left in the quarter.

Stanford was impressive early in scoring two touchdowns over the first 10-plus minutes.

Taylor scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 13-play, 81-yard drive for the Cardinal’s first points, and Nunes tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to Drew Terrell with 4:23 left in the quarter.

San Jose State got on the board on a 38-yard field goal by Austin Lopez with 10:23 left in the half. Williamson booted a career-long 46-yard field goal for Stanford as time expired in the half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Stanford has beaten San Jose State five consecutive times. … Grigsby caught seven passes for 93 yards. He set a Spartans’ record with 89 receptions last season. … The Cardinal converted only 2-of-13 third-down opportunities while San Jose State was 7-for-16. … The memory of Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh was honored at halftime. Walsh, who died in 2007, was a graduate of San Jose State and had two coaching stints at Stanford.