Cardinal Taken Down

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Cardinal knew it would have its hands full with an Arizona State team itching for revenge after falling twice to Stanford in 2013, including once in Tempe for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. Losing its starting quarterback had not deterred the Sun Devils from getting off to a 4-1 start behind the No. 7-ranked offense in the nation by yardage – in other words, taking down 17th-ranked Arizona State would be a tall order.

The Cardinal defense put together another solid performance in holding Arizona State to more than 200 yards under its season average, but the Stanford offense mustered just one touchdown against an improved ASU defense in a 26-10 loss to the Sun Devils Saturday night in Tempe.

Stanford falls to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-12, while Arizona State improves to 5-1 and 3-1 in the Pac-12, staying even in the loss column in the Pac-12 South with USC, Utah and Arizona in the process.

Stanford’s offense had trouble moving the football until late in the game, mustering just 69 yards of offense in the first half as the Cardinal fell behind 14-0 after 30 minutes of action. Kevin Hogan finished the game with 212 yards on 19-39 passing. Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici, filling in for the injured Taylor Kelly, led the Forks on two long touchdown drives and finished 23-33 for 245 yards through the air and a touchdown.

Arizona State outgained Stanford 356-288 and held the Cardinal to just 76 yards on the ground, with Remound Wright’s 40 yards on nine carries being the high total for a Stanford rusher. D.J. Foster paced Arizona State’s ground attack with 59 yards on just 2.5 yards per carry but found the end zone to give Arizona State a lead it would never relinquish.

The defense did well to corral a Sun Devil attack that was averaging 557 yards per game entering Saturday night, holding Arizona State scoreless in the first quarter. The Sun Devils traversed inside the Cardinal 35-yard line on their first drive, but junior linebacker Blake Martinez sacked Bercovici (and forced a fumble that was immediately recovered by the ASU QB) to knock Arizona State out of field goal range. The Sun Devils’ next drive took them to the Stanford 21, but Martinez came up big again with a huge tackle-for-loss, this time spilling D.J. Foster for a loss of six. This made Zane Gonzalez’s field-goal attempt a 48-yarder, and he pushed it wide.

Unfortunately for the Cardinal, the offense was having trouble figuring out an Arizona State defense that had struggled mightily earlier in the season. Losing nine starters on that side of the ball from 2013 had made for a rough transition early on, but the unit was able to make some tweaks in the bye week and forced two Cardinal 3-and-outs to start the game. Stanford had just one first down in the first quarter.

Arizona State broke through on its first drive of the second quarter, efficiently moving the ball down the field on a 13-play, 81-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard Foster touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead with 8:28 remaining in the first half. The Stanford defense held ASU out of the end zone twice after the Forks earned a 1st-and-goal from the Stanford 2-yard-line, but Foster’s 1-yd plunge untied the game for good.

Trying to improve upon a slow start, the Cardinal attack found a little rhythm on the ensuing drive, as Hogan found tight ends Austin Hooper and Greg Taboada on back-to-back plays for 10 and 30 yards, respectively. This put Stanford well into plus-territory and the Cardinal would eventually march down to the ASU 30, but Lloyd Carrington’s sack of Hogan knocked the Cardinal out of field goal range and punter Ben Rhyne had to trot back out there.

Stanford’s defense forced a quick 3-and-out, but senior wide receiver Ty Montgomery fumbled the ensuing punt to give Arizona State great field position on the Cardinal 12-yard line. Lance Anderson’s unit made it tough on the Sun Devils again, but Bercovici found receiver Jaelen Strong in the back of the end zone on 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line to give Arizona State its halftime lead of 14-0. This snapped a streak of 87 consecutive games that Stanford was shut out in the first half, dating back to a Nov. 2007 contest at Washington State in Jim Harbaugh’s first year on The Farm.

Receiving the second-half kickoff, Stanford found more of a groove offensively and moved the ball 65 yards on 12 plays, as Remound Wright found a big lane up the gut for a 22-yard rush and Hogan enlisted the services of Montgomery, Hooper and Michael Rector through the air to help move the ball inside the Sun Devil 30. However, Stanford would have to settle for a 40-yard field goal from Jordan Williamson after Hogan was unable to connect with Montgomery for what would have been the third time of the drive.

Any good vibes established with that long Stanford drive were quickly humbled by Foster’s 17-yard run on the first play from scrimmage on Arizona State’s next series. The Sun Devils responded with another double-digit-play drive, but the Cardinal defense stiffened up inside the 10 to force a Gonzalez 25-yard field goal attempt to push the Arizona State lead out to 17-3 with 5:37 remaining in the third.

After another Stanford punt the forced ASU to start on its own 4-yard line, Bercovici again led the Sun Devils on a long drive, this one taking 13 snaps and spanning two quarters. While the Sun Devils didn’t foray as deep into Stanford territory, they ate up nearly five minutes of clock and pushed the lead out to 20-3 early in the fourth after Zane Gonzalez blasted a 47-yard field goal that would have been good from 50-plus.

The Cardinal needed points quickly, and finally it got some on an economical drive that lasted just 79 seconds. Hogan found all sorts of space down the sideline for a 31-yard gain on a designed run, Montgomery nearly burrowed his way into the end zone on a 22-yard reception and senior fullback Patrick Skov finished off the drive with a 1-yard plow into paydirt to cut the deficit to 20-10 with 11:23 left; still plenty of time for the Cardinal to mount a comeback.

The defense did its job and gave the ball back to Hogan and Co. with the same score, but Bercovici channeled his inner-Taylor Kelly, the injured Arizona State quarterback known for his solid pooch punts, by booting one down to the Stanford 1-yd line. Backed up against its own end zone, Stanford could not move the chains and gave it right back to Arizona State with great field position. The Sun Devils took advantage, tacking on three more with a 25-yard field goal and recovering a Christian McCaffrey fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The Cardinal defense again held strong and kept the game within two scores after another Gonzalez field goal made it 26-10, but time was wearing thin on the Farm Boys – just 3:29 to go now.

The offense did well to move the pigskin down the field against more of a prevent defense but could not get past the Sun Devil 15-yard line as Hogan was unable to hook up with Ty Montgomery on fourth down. With 39 seconds remaining, there was nothing left for ASU to do but kneel down once.

In the minds of the Forks, justice had been served after the Cardinal had dominated them 38-14 inside their friendly confines last December. And while Saturday night’s loss is a bitter pill to swallow for Stanford, the Cardinal still controls its own destiny in the Pac-12 North. Win out, and a short trip to Santa Clara for the 2014 Pac-12 Football Championship Game will be the reward.