Love’s 301-yard effort sets record in victory
The numbers are almost beyond belief. Bryce Love had 159 yards and two touchdowns rushing, and it was only halftime.
He went over 1,000 yards for the season, and it was still September.
Stanford’s junior tailback finished with 301 yards on 25 carries Saturday, breaking the single-game school record of 284 set by Christian McCaffrey last year against Cal.
The nation’s leading rusher ran around and through Arizona State to turn a 34-24 Stanford
win into his own personal track meet.
An 11-yard run with just over 4 minutes left pushed Love past his pal, McCaffrey. Previously Love had touchdown runs of 61, 43 and 59 yards.
“I’ve never seen anything like that — ever,” head coach David Shaw said. “It’s unbelievable — against a defense that’s tough, and they move. They’re so lateral and quick, it’s hard to find gaps.”
Not for Love. On his first two long runs, he broke away from the same defender, Chad Adams, at the same point, the 25-yard line. On the third, he became only the third college player in the past 13 years to rush for more than 1,000 yards in his first five games of the season. He now has 1,088.
“Man, am I happy to have him on our side,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said. “We’re all gleaming with pride, knowing all the hard work he put in.”
Safety Justin Reid said, “When we were in camp, he was terrorizing us. It’s nice to see him do it to opposing defenses. This kid is so much fun to watch. McCaffrey was awesome to watch, and Bryce is just as awesome. We’re spoiled having both these backs in consecutive years.”
Redshirt freshman K.J. Costello, starting at quarterback for the first time in his college career, completed 15 of 24 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, but Stanford (3-2, 2-1
Pac-12) was at its most dangerous when he was giving the ball to Love.
Costello “played really well, really smart,” Shaw said. Keller Chryst, the previous starter, did not dress as a result of an undisclosed injury sustained last week against UCLA.
Costello’s touchdown — a perfect fade pass to J.J. ArcegaWhiteside from 12 yards out — came in the second quarter and gave the Cardinal a 21-10 lead.
“He’s our go-to guy,” Costello said. “He’s got the strongest hands I’ve ever seen in my career. They call them 50-50 balls, but in my mind it’s 75-25. The way he goes up and gets that rock is incredible.”
As to whether Costello or Chryst will start next weekend at Utah, Shaw said, “We’ll start talking about next week (Sunday).”
Down 31-17 after Love’s 59yard score with 6:46 to play in the third, the Sun Devils (2-3, 1-1) didn’t go quietly. Demario Richard’s second short touchdown of the game cut the lead to 31-24 with 8:02 left. But Love’s rushing set up an insurance 22-yard field goal by Jet Toner with 2:30 left. It was Toner’s eighth this season without a miss.
Cardinal safety Justin Reid intercepted two passes by Manny Wilkins, the ASU quarterback from San Marin-Novato who completed 15 of 24 passes for 181 yards.
The Sun Devils had a 14-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver N’Keal Harry to C.J. French-Love from a wildcat formation.
The Cardinal’s offensive line was missing right guard Nate Herbig because of a late-week physical problem. Brandon Fanaika filled in, and the line gave Love enough room to work.
“Some things weren’t blocked perfectly, but our guys know if they can just maintain contact, Bryce has a chance,” Shaw said.
On Love’s first touchdown, he had to maneuver quickly to keep from going out of bounds. Other times he just burst through the defense.
“I’ve never seen somebody get hit and stumble and get back up to full speed” so quickly, Shaw said.