Late Friday
No. 22 Arizona State 28, Stanford 10: Jack Jones stepped in front of the receiver, caught the ball and held it out with one hand. Just before he hit the ground, the Arizona State defensive back caught a glimpse of Deandre Pierce and tossed it to his teammate for a spectacular touchdown.
The Sun Devils’ run game was just as impressive. Pierce scored a 27-yard touchdown on a lateral off Jones’ interception and host Arizona State rode its explosive run game to a win over Stanford. “When you run for 200-plus, you’re going to win a lot of games,” Arizona State coach Herm Edwards said. “It was fun to watch the runners run.”
Especially like this.
The Sun Devils (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) exploited one of the nation’s worst run defenses, racking up 255 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Jayden Daniels provided the balance, throwing for 175 yards and running for 76 more, including a 51-yard touchdown. Their defense gave up some big plays in the passing game, but kept the Cardinal out of the end zone in the second half and created three turnovers – none more exciting than the interception and lateral. “When I got it, I knew it was me and the receiver on an island,” Jones said. “I turned around a ‘Dre was there. Luckily he caught the ball.”
Stanford (3-3, 2-2) had no answer for Arizona State’s run game and became one dimensional offensively after falling behind, limited to 9 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Tanner Mckee threw for 356 yards and a touchdown, but had his first three interceptions of the season, including Pierce’s back-breaking TD in the third quarter.
“We got into position multiple times and stalled,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “The defense gave the offense opportunities in the second half and the offense didn’t take advantage.”