The Sun Devils seemed to have no answers for the Cardinal on either side of the ball.
After a missed field goal by Stanford to start the game, the ASU offense started with quick with passes to redshirt sophomore Jaelen Strong and sophomore D.J. Foster but on third-and-nine, ASU quarterback Taylor Kelly was intercepted on a deflected pass by redshirt senior Josh Mauro.
After the Kelly interception, the Cardinal took over at the ASU 17-yard line and struck quickly, scoring the first points of the game when Kevin Hogan connected on a 17-yard pass to junior wide receiver Ty Montgomery.
After a 6-play, 22-yard drive that ended on an ASU punt, Stanford would take a 13-0 lead after a one-yard touchdown run from senior running back Tyler Gaffney. The Gaffney touchdown capped off a nine-play, 90-yard touchdown drive. The extra point failed after bouncing off the right upright.
The Cardinal defense was smothering in the first quarter, giving up 57 total yards and only a single rushing yard.
The Sun Devils would try to get on the board in the second quarter but kicker Zane Gonzalez would miss wide-right from 45 yards away.
The Cardinal continued to pound away at the Sun Devil defense, scoring again on a 12-yard touchdown run from senior running back Anthony Wilkerson to make the score 20-0 with 9:10 left in the half.
Stanford struck again when Hogan connected with Montgomery again on a 30-yard touchdown strike to extend the Cardinal lead to 27-0 with 4:49 left in the half.
To end the half, ASU, backed up at their own 12-yard line, had a punt blocked when freshman punter Matt Haack kicked out of the back of the end zone for a Stanford safety making the score 29-0 at halftime.
While Stanford’s defense was absolutely stifling, the Sun Devil defense couldn’t seem to stop the Cardinal offense which put up 259 total yards, including 131 rushing, by halftime.
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
