STANFORD, Calif. – Sean Barton welcomed the chance to preserve Stanford's 20-13 victory at Arizona State on Thursday night. After building a two-touchdown lead, the defense denied the Sun Devils at its 18-yard line when time expired.
"We take it as a compliment," said the senior linebacker. "We want to be the ones ending the game."
Stanford (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) snapped a two-game losing streak and controls its own destiny in quest of a fifth Pac-12 North Division title in seven years. The bye week came at a good time for the Cardinal, who finally found offensive rhythm with four consecutive scoring drives and were energized on defense.
Coming in, Arizona State had committed two turnovers, the lowest figure in the country. Unable to generate a turnover in the past two contests, Stanford forced three and converted a pair into points.
Barton and sophomore cornerback Paulson Adedo recorded their first career interceptions, while fifth-year senior inside linebacker Bobby Okereke forced a fumble. Freshman defensive end Thomas Booker pounced on it for his first collegiate recovery. It marked Arizona State's first fumble in 710 carries.
The defense limited Sun Devil running back Eno Benjamin to 38 yards on 11 attempts. Coming into the game, he averaged 125.5 yards and had broken more tackles than any runner in the nation.
"We were always confident in our abilities," Barton said.
Adebo shadowed Arizona State play-maker N'Keal Harry and more than held his own. He pressed Harry at the line of scrimmage and seldom allowed separation. Harry caught eight passes, but his longest gain was 28 yards, and he never found the end zone.
In addition to his interception, Adebo also had two pass breakups.
The defense got a lift with the return of senior outside linebacker Casey Toohill. He started the first three games and was a force before sustaining an injury against UC Davis.
Screens click: The Cardinal executed two nice screen passes, the first resulting in an apparent touchdown from junior quarterback K.J. Costello to senior running back Cameron Scarlett in the second quarter. Scarlett showed nice patience and followed his blockers, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty.
Costello also connected with junior running back Trevor Speights for a good gain, but a penalty erased it.
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Playing tough: Costello scrambled for three timely first downs, but one was painful. Early in the second quarter, a Sun Devil defender stepped on his throwing hand and Costello was replaced by junior Jack Richardson for one play. Costello gutted it out the rest of the way and completed 22 of 29 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown.
"I was feeling it all night, but you gotta dig deep," Costello said.
Stepping up: Senior Bryce Love started after missing the Utah game with an injury. He was contained until leaving the contest early in the third quarter and didn't return, finishing with 21 yards on 11 carries.
"He was ready to go back in, but I wouldn't let him," said David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
Shaw hopes Love will be available on Saturday against Washington State.
Scarlett and Speights picked up the slack. Scarlett ran nine times for 54 yards, including a tough one-yard touchdown plunge, while Speights muscled for 34 yards on 19 carries, and caught two passes for 25 yards.
"We knew Bryce wasn't going to be a full go and wasn't expected to play the whole game, so we knew that we were going to have to be ready whenever our numbers were called," Scarlett said. "We were trying to make the most of our opportunities."
Speights' numbers belied his contributions. He ran hard against a stacked Sun Devil front and made several key blocks in blitz protection. The biggest came in the third quarter when he enabled Costello to step up in the pocket and fire a 28-yard scoring strike to senior JJ Arcega-Whiteside, giving Stanford a 13-6 lead.
"We knew we were coming into a hostile environment, a Thursday night game, so there's going to be a lot of adversity we would have to overcome," said Scarlett. "I like the way we fought until the end and kept the pressure on. There are some things we need to work on. As a whole, we'll take the win."
.@kj_costello has a TD pass in 11 straight games. It's the longest streak for a Cardinal QB since Andrew Luck had 16 consecutive games with a TD pass from Nov. 20, 2010-Jan. 2, 2012 (last 16 games of his career).#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/9wiWGN5Bch
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 20, 2018
Ball control: The Cardinal finished with a nearly 17-minute time of possession advantage.
"David Shaw is going to run the football; that's what he does," said Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards. "That's what his success is. Their DNA is running the ball and they're not going to change from that."
Dynamic duo: Arcega-Whiteside and senior Trenton Irwin turned in impressive outings, each producing seven catches.
Arcega-Whiteside now has nine touchdown receptions, the third-most nationally. He set up the second Cardinal touchdown with a determined 12-yard run-and-catch to the Arizona State 2, fighting his way through defenders for extra yardage.
Although he won't receive credit in the box score, Arcega-Whiteside also drew three pass interference penalties.
Irwin's catches matched his career-high and totaled 79 yards. As usual, he made several tough grabs in traffic and displayed Velcro-like hands.
CHOO CHOO.
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 19, 2018
?? @jjarcega_22 #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tkVAiIKZpN
Next up: After playing three of its last four contests on the road, the No.24 Cardinal returns to Stanford Stadium for its second-to-last home game on Saturday versus No. 14 Washington State (6-1, 3-1) at 4 p.m. It is Reunion Homecoming and Scout Day. Troops and packs receive ticket discounts and a special Scout patch.
Stanford leads the series, 40-27-1, but has dropped the last two meetings after winning the previous eight games against the Cougars.
On Saturday, Washington State bolted to a 27-0 halftime lead against Oregon in Pullman and pulled away for a 34-20 victory. Gardner Minshew II threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns and spread the ball around in the Air Raid Offense, as nine players caught passes.
Minshew has 2,422 passing yards, the most in the nation. Six Cougar players have 200 or more receiving yards this season, tops in the FBS.
Common opponents: Stanford and Washington State have played three common foes: USC, Oregon and Utah. The Cardinal beat USC, 17-3, and Oregon, 38-31 in OT, but lost to Utah, 40-21. The Cougars fell to USC in Los Angeles, 39-36, and have home wins over Utah (28-24) and Oregon.
Adebo island is a dangerous place to be.
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 20, 2018
?? @yg_3x ??#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/TfK2FpfiGj
Extra points: Adebo ranks No. 2 nationally with 16 total passes defended and his 15 break ups lead the FBS … Stanford is now 11-4 after bye weeks under Shaw … Scarlett lined up in the Wildcat formation and ran for five yards … Senior Jake Bailey launched a clutch 61-yard punt prior to Arizona State's last possession … Former Stanford defensive back Ronnie Harris, a two-time captain and All-Pac-12 second team selection in 2015, served as honorary captain.
Quotable: "You want the clock to run when you have a two-score lead. It's a formula that wins football games." - David Shaw