ASU football could not stop Stanford junior running back Bryce Love and dropped a tight contest to the Cardinal, 34-24, at Stanford Stadium.
The Sun Devils (2-3, 1-1 Pac-12) entered Saturday afternoon's contest with an opportunity to win two consecutive Pac-12 games for the first time since beating Washington and Arizona back-to-back in 2015.
A win would have also given ASU consecutive wins over Stanford for the first time since winning three straight from 2006-08. Instead, the Cardinal are now 9-6 all-time against ASU at home.
Since 2012, ASU has won at least one conference game in California in four of five seasons. Head coach Todd Graham's team will square off with the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl in November.
301
With 301 rushing yards, Love broke former Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey's single-game school record. Through four games, ASU had allowed the ninth-most rushing yards per game (155.5) in the Pac-12.
2
ASU redshirt junior quarterback Manny Wilkins threw two interceptions on Saturday.
Wilkins came into the game holding the school record for most consecutive pass attempts (188) without an interception dating back to last season's road loss against rival UA.
9.9
Thanks in large part to Love's ability to break off several big runs, Stanford averaged 9.9 yards per rush. Love alone ran for 30-plus yards five times (61, 43, 39, 59 and 31)
Entering the afternoon tilt, ASU had surrendered the third-most yards per run in the conference at 4.71, ahead of only UCLA (6.6) and the Cardinal (4.9).
214
ASU rushed for a season-best 214 yards.
The Sun Devils came in averaging only 108.3 rush yards per game, the second fewest in the Pac-12.
Three different players gained 60-plus yards on the ground – senior running back Demario Richard (84), sophomore wide receiver Kyle Williams (65) and senior tailback Kalen Ballage (60).
137
Richard had a team-leading 137 total yards of offense. In addition to his 80 rushing yards, Richard caught three passes for a team-best 57 yards, even though he is not a receiver.
In his career, Richard never had a rushing touchdown in three straight games prior to Saturday.
195
Nine ASU players combined for just 195 receiving yards against a Stanford secondary that ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in pass yards allowed per game (269.5).
After catching 20 passes for 318 yards in his last two games, sophomore wideout N'Keal Harry was limited to three receptions for 40 yards.
3
The interior of Stanford's offensive line dominated and as a result, Wilkins was sacked three more times.
The Sun Devils offensive line gave up 19 sacks coming into Saturday, which was tied with Cal for eighth in the Pac-12.
50
ASU redshirt sophomore punter Michael Sleep-Dalton now has at least one 50-yard punt in four of his first five career games.
ASU came into the game ranked last in the Pac-12 in net yards per punt (31.5).
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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