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Improvement. It's what ASU coach Todd Graham has preached all season, and especially in the two weeks leading up to No. 17 ASU's 26-10 win over No. 23 Stanford.
Improvement was seen in every facet of the game, but most importantly from the defense and special teams, which both turned in their best performances of the season. The Sun Devils (5-1, 3-1 Pac-12) held the Cardinal (4-3, 1-2 Pac-12) to less than 100 total yards in the first half and less than 300 for the game.
"After the first half, I was chewing out the staff because I thought they gave me the wrong stats," Graham said, referring to the low numbers on the Stanford stat sheet.
The stats were real, however, and by the end of the game, it had turned into the best defensive performance Graham can remember in his time at ASU. Although, he joked that he can barely remember yesterday, let alone the games at the beginning of his tenure.
More specifically, the secondary thrived against senior quarterback Kevin Hogan. Not only did it hold one of the most talented receivers in the nation — senior Ty Montgomery — to six catches and 82 yards, it got into the backfield, too. In previous games, ASU had struggled to get pressure on the quarterback. When it faced the best offensive line it has to this point, it also got the most pressure.
"That is our game plan as an attacking-style defense," said redshirt senior Damarious Randall, who stripped Hogan on a sack in the first quarter. "That is just what we do. We just like to put pressure up on the quarterback, so we can force turnovers and get (tackles for loss) and sacks."
ASU also held Montgomery, the potent return man, to an average of just 19 yards per kick return, with none going longer than 23 yards. More importantly, ASU even forced two turnovers by the Cardinal. The first gave the Sun Devils the momentum they needed, and the second sealed the victory.
Sophomore punter Matt Haack sent a booming punt 54 yards toward Montgomery, giving Randall enough time to get in position to force and recover Montgomery's critical error.
"Normally whenever there's a left-footed punter ... I have trouble," Randall said. "I was going to make the tackle, and I had seen he had muffed it. So I ended up pushing him out of the way and ended up getting the turnover."
Hang time forced the first mistake, but it was sloppy play on Stanford's part — an unexpected theme throughout the game — that gave the Sun Devils their second takeaway on special teams.
With 3:58 left in the game, ASU held a commanding-but-not-certain 23-10 lead. Stanford had an inkling of hope left on the field of Sun Devil Stadium. Then, freshman Christian McCaffrey fumbled on the kickoff from redshirt senior Alex Garoutte, and all hope vanquished.
Redshirt junior quarterback Mike Bercovici has steadily improved through his three starts, too. His first was impressive but marred by turnovers. The Sun Devils continued to struggle running the ball in his second. But in his third, everything came together.
Bercovici provided an ample passing game to complement ASU's run game, a balance not before seen from the Sun Devils with Bercovici under center. In Bercovici's two previous starts, the Sun Devils averaged just 2.91 yards per carry. Against Stanford, the Sun Devils still only averaged 2.5 yards per carry, but they forced the Cardinal into playing both aspects of the offense, rushing 46 times and throwing it 34.
"The bye week definitely helped in creating an identity in which we wanted to attack this game," Bercovici said. "We were very simple with what we wanted to do as far as attacking Stanford's defense. ... When that run game is going, we're very effective."
Additional notes
— The Sun Devils' 26 points were the most Stanford has given up this season. The Cardinal hadn't given up more than 17, which came in a loss at No. 5 Notre Dame and a victory over Washington State.
— Although ASU players and coaches denied being motivated by the two losses in the two weeks leading up to the game, that motto changed after the game.
"We had a salty taste in our mouth last December when it didn't go our way (in the Pac-12 Championship Game)," Bercovici said.
"We came out tonight with a chip on our shoulder," redshirt junior Lloyd Carrington added.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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