By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, October 18, 2014

TEMPE, Arizona – Arizona State used an aggressive defense and a big offensive first half Saturday to knock off Stanford 26-10 in Pac-12 football on a hot and humid evening before 59,012 sweltering fans at Sun Devil Stadium.

The win helped avenge ASU’s humiliating 38-14 loss to Stanford in last season’s Pac-12 championship game, also played in Tempe.

The Sun Devils (5-1 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-12 South) kept Stanford (4-3 overall, from sustaining a consistent offensive drive for most of the 82-degree, 30 percent humidity night. ASU held the Cardinal to 288 yards in total offense and recovered two of Stanford’s four fumbles.

Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici completed 23 of 33 passes for 245 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. D.J. Foster paced the Sun Devil ball carriers with 59 rushing yards on 24 carries and a touchdown, and caught seven passes for 92 yards.

ASU finished with 356 yards in total offense, and picked up 23 first downs to Stanford’s 14. Sun Devils kicker Zane Gonzalez booted four second-half field goals to help keep the Cardinal at bay while ASU’s inspired defense did the rest.

Kevin Hogan provided most of the offense for Stanford, completing 19 of 29 passes for 212 yards, but was sacked twice. The Cardinal totaled 76 yards on the ground, with Remound Wright topping Stanford with 40 yards on nine attempts.

Outside linebacker Kevin Anderson led the Cardinal with 10 tackles. Anderson, Blake Martinez and James Vaughters each registered one sack. Going into Saturday’s game, Stanford had held its opponents to under 20 points in 13 straight regular season games.

The first scoring opportunity for either team came with 5:04 left in the first quarter, when the Sun Devils’ Zane Gonzalez missed a field goal attempt from 48 yards out.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Sun Devils broke through with 8:28 left in the first half. A 1-yard dive by Foster capped an 81-yard drive on 13 plays, giving ASU a 7-0 lead.

Arizona State’s defense hounded Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan all night. Sun Devil cornerback Lloyd Carrington sacked Hogan on a third-down blitz with five minutes to play in the second quarter.

The Sun Devils’ ensuing drive stalled at its own 20, but Stanford’s Ty Montgomery muffed Matt Haack’s 54-yard punt, which was recovered by ASU’s Damarious Randall at the Cardinal 12.

Five plays later, with 1:58 left in the half, ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici found Jaelen Strong open on a post route in the end zone for a 3-yard TD pass.

Stanford and Arizona State swapped field goals in the third quarter. Jordan Williamson connected from 40 yards out at 9:31 to put the Cardinal on the board, and, with 5:37 remaining in the quarter, the Sun Devils responded with a 25-yard field goal by Gonzalez, putting ASU up 17-3.

ASU drove to the Cardinal 15 in the opening drive in the fourth quarter, but safety Jordan Richards’ sack of Bercovici moved the Devils back to the 25. From there, Gonzalez made it 20-3 when he nailed a 47-yard field goal with 12:50 to play.

Stanford cut ASU’s lead in half with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Patrick Skov with 11:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. The key play in the drive was a 31-yard scramble by Hogan.

The Sun Devils increased their lead to 23-10 when Gonzalez tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 4:07 to play. The 29-yard drive was set up by Ben Rhyne’s 36-yard punt out of the end zone.

The Cardinal’s Christian McCaffrey returned the ensuing kickoff by Alex Garoutte out of the end zone to the Stanford 19 where his fumble – forced by ASU’s Deandre Scott and recovered by Ezekiel Bishop – gave Sun Devils the ball at the Stanford 22. This quickly led to another Gonzalez field goal, a 31-yarder with 3:29 left that extended ASU’s lead to the final count of 26-10.

Next week, Stanford hosts Oregon State for its annual “Reunion/Homecoming” contest at Stanford Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PDT.

CARDINAL NOTES: ASU leads the series 17-13. … Stanford was shut out in the first half for the first time in 87 games. Last time that happened was in 2007 against Washington State. … This was the fifth time since 2008 that Stanford faced a higher ranked Pac-12 opponent on the road. It happened twice in 2009 and 2012. … Saturday’s win over Stanford completed a three-game stretch in which Arizona State faced an AP Top 25 team, something the program has never previously experienced. The Sun Devils followed a 62-27 loss to UCLA with a 38-34 win over USC.