By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, September 21, 2013

No. 5-ranked Stanford built a huge halftime lead, then held off a late Arizona State challenge in the second half Saturday in the Cardinal’s 42-28 victory in the Pac-12 opener for both schools at Stanford Stadium.

Tyler Gaffney gained 95 yards while scoring two touchdowns for Stanford (3-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) and Anthony Wilkerson chipped in with 68 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Kevin Hogan completed 11 of 17 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns – both to Ty Montgomery – leading the Cardinal to their 11th consecutive victory. Montgomery, slowed last season by a knee injury, caught four catches for 62 yards.

The Cardinal defense played a key role in the nationally-televised win, forcing two turnovers, blocking two punts, plus three sacks and 10 tackles for loss of yardage.

Sun Devils quarterback Taylor Kelly completed 30 of 55 passes for 367 yards and three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. One of Kelly’s picks was in the end zone as time expired.

Jaelen Strong caught 12 passes for 168 yards and a TD in a disappointing loss for ASU following a win last week over Wisconsin.

ASU’s fourth quarter touchdown passes to Chris Coyle, Strong and Marion Grice made the score look cosmetically closer than it really was.

Stanford extended its streak of forcing a turnover to 27 games early in the contest. Defensive end Josh Mauro kick-started the Cardinal’s defensive contributions when he intercepted a Kelly pass deep in Sun Devil territory, setting up Montgomery’s first TD catch in the first quarter.

From there, Stanford built its 29-0 halftime lead on a Gaffney running touchdown, a 13-yard scoring pass to Wilkerson and a 30-yard TD run by Mongomery. Adding insult to injury to the Sun Devils, Blake Lueders blocked an ASU upback into the punter, who booted the ball over the end line for a safety.

In the third quarter, Ben Gardner blocked a quick kick by Kelly, setting up a 16-yard TD by Gaffney that put Stanford up 39-7 late in the third quarter.

The undefeated Cardinal travels to Washington State next week. Game time has yet to be determined.

(subject Stanford football)

(tags,Stanford,football,Arizona State,Pac-12)