Oct. 22, 2005
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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Trent Edwards passed for career-highs of 303 yards and three touchdowns, and Stanford scored 38 consecutive points in coach Walt Harris' first home victory, 45-35 over reeling Arizona State on Saturday.
Mark Bradford caught nine passes for 185 yards, including two long TD passes in the second quarter while the Cardinal (4-2, 3-1 Pac-10) pulled away from Arizona State for their third straight win.
Anthony Kimble caught a TD pass and ran for another score, and Stanford blocked two punts to win three straight conference games for the first time since 1999.
It was a breakthrough victory for Harris, the longtime Pitt coach who already has erased memories of three straight losing seasons for the Cardinal under fired Buddy Teevens. Stanford narrowly won each of its first three road games under Harris, but was 0-2 at Stanford Stadium - including a last-minute loss to Division I-AA UC Davis last month.
Rudy Burgess caught a TD pass and ran for a score for the Sun Devils (3-4, 1-3), whose once-promising season has plummeted with three straight losses. Arizona State hasn't won at Stanford since 1997.
Quarterback Sam Keller was cleared to start for Arizona State despite an injured thumb, shoulder and ankle - but the Bay Area native struggled, throwing for just 98 ineffective yards before getting benched in the third quarter.
His replacement, freshman Rudy Carpenter, threw an interception on his third play that was returned 26 yards for a score by linebacker Mike Silva. But Carpenter recovered to lead a series of impressive drives resulting in 28 points, throwing TD passes to Burgess, Terry Richardson and Brent Miller to trim Stanford's huge lead.
Carpenter went 19-of-25 for 304 yards, probably creating a quarterback controversy for coach Dirk Koetter. Richardson had six catches for 119 yards.
Arizona State was ranked 14th before a heartbreaking 38-28 loss to USC on Oct. 1 - and the Sun Devils then were beaten 31-17 at home by Oregon before their bye week. Now they must win three of their final four games just to become bowl-eligible.
Edwards, a junior who was hurt early in the Cardinal's loss to UC Davis, went 19-of-27 as he calmly directed Stanford's offense to 38 points in the first 36 minutes.
Stanford's first score came one play after its first blocked punt, recovered by Jon Alston at the Arizona State 15. Edwards' short pass bounced high off Kimble's hand - but Kimble managed to catch his own deflection, then romped into the end zone.
Starting with Kimble's 2-yard TD run late in the first quarter, Stanford turned a 7-7 game into a 45-7 blowout.
Bradford caught TD passes of 32 and 31 yards in the second quarter, with his first catch capping an impressive 86-yard drive.
The Cardinal blocked two punts and also forced punter Chris MacDonald into an illegal kick on a third. Stanford scored points after all three mistakes, including Michael Sgroi's 20-yard field at the halftime gun to put the Cardinal up 31-7.