Heading into Thursday night's game against Arizona State in Tempe, the Stanford Cardinal found itself in waters that, while not exactly uncharted, were still a bit unfamiliar. It felt as if the season were at stake. After consecutive losses to Notre Dame and Utah, and with games against Washington State and Washington looming ahead, this game against the Sun Devils had become a must-win for the Cardinal. A win would set things right and keep all of the team's goals in play; a loss would possibly send the team into disarray a raise the specter of an unprecedented five-game losing streak.
A few hours before kickoff, Stanford fans heard the news they were hoping for -- Bryce Love had been cleared to play. After missing the Utah game with an injured ankle, Love had initially reclaimed his rightful spot on the depth chart earlier in the week, but Coach David Shaw acknowledged soon after that Love's official playing status would likely be a game day decision. News that he would actually play sent ripples through Mighty Card Nation, as those of us still hoping to see a glimpse of 2017's brilliance took heart.
Almost immediately, however, that hope was stolen away. On the first play of the game, quarterback K.J. Costello handed the ball to Love, and he was engulfed by a horde of tacklers. Instead of a glimpse of 2017, we got an eyeful of 2018. Three-yard losses have become all too common, and it was hardly any surprise when Love carried again on 2nd down and found little success, leading to a 3rd and 9. When Costello's pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside netted only seven yards, the drive was done and hopes were dashed.
That series served as a preview of what would come for the rest of the quarter as both teams traded three-and-outs for the game's first four possessions. It wasn't until Stanford engineered an eleven-play drive (gaining only 40 yards) that either offense showed any signs of life.
ASU's third drive finally produced some points. Sun Devil quarterback Manny Wilkins took his team on his capable shoulders and marched them down the field. There was a one-yard run from tailback Eno Benjamin, but every other play was either a run or pass from Wilkins, the big one being a 51-yard bomb to Brandon Aiyuk that put the Devils in the red zone. The Stanford defense stiffened from there, but Arizona State took the field goal and a three-point lead.
Coaches, players, and fans have all wondered about Stanford's penchant for slow starts this season, but no one has come up with a satisfying explanation. Here are the facts: The Cardinal has now been outscored 41-14 in the first quarter this year, and the 7-0 performance against USC has been the only time Stanford has finished the opening stanza with a lead. It isn't terribly surprising that the defense has allowed 41 points, because we're used to watching Lance Anderson's unit give ground early only to make adjustments the rest of the way, but it's more than a little concerning that an offense with weapons like this has only scored two touchdowns in those seven opening quarters.
Given all that, I suppose it was a good sign that the Cardinal only trailed by three as the second quarter began. Midway through that second quarter, the Stanford offense finally put together a representative drive. They moved the ball 63 yards on eight plays, which looks good until you look closer and see that almost half of the yardage came courtesy of two pass interference penalties on consecutive plays in the middle of the drive. That gave Costello and Company a 1st and goal at the 10, which is right in the middle of the Arcegatron Zone, but in the most shocking development since that day the sun rose in the West, J.J.'s number wasn't called once. Instead there were two runs from Love and another from Trevor Speights, followed by a disappointing field goal from Jet Toner to tie the score at 3-3.
Arizona State's next possession looked promising as Wilkins drove the ball to the Stanford 31 looking for a score in the closing moments of the half, but then the Devils got tricky when then they didn't need to. Wilkins handed the ball to tailback Eno Benjamin, who then flipped the ball to wide receiver N'Keal Harry on a reverse -- but that wasn't tricky enough. Harry slowed and began looking down field, and that's usually a pretty good sign for the Stanford defense. These plays only work when the defensive backs abandon their responsibilities, but Stanford defenders tend to be fairly disciplined. Also, it's usually a good thing when a non-quarterback is throwing the ball, and so it was here. It's entirely possible that Harry never saw Sean Barton blanketing his target, but it's also possible that Harry saw Barton but threw it anyway because he knew -- like all non-quarterbacks everywhere know -- that he wouldn't have too many chances to live out his quarterback dreams. Regardless of the reason, Harry threw the ball into Barton's hands, and the Cardinal took over at its own 11 with 1:55 to play.
With the clock pushing the Cardinal into their version of a hurry-up, which really just means they didn't bleed the play clock to zero before each snap, the offense looked crisp for the first time all night. Love had tweaked his ankle earlier, so Trevor Speights and Cameron Scarlett split time at running back, and each contributed on this drive. Speights ran twice for 16 yards and caught a pass for 11 more, and Scarlett accounted for thirty yards with a reception for 19 yards and a run for 11. (Scarlett's run actually ended in the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but it was called back after an obvious and needless holding penalty.) Confusion with the clock, whether it was officials not granting a timeout or just mismanagement from the Stanford sideline, cost the Cardinal a shot at the end zone after Costello hit Trent Irwin at the 13, but when Toner pumped a 31-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired, the Cardinal had its first lead of the night at 6-3.
There are 130 teams in college football's highest division, and 129 of them want to start the second half with the ball. David Shaw and the Cardinal, however, are the Bartlebys of the NCAA. They would prefer not. This, of course, leads to much consternation among even the most loyal Stanford fans, because it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. You shouldn't allow your opponents to open the second half and claim momentum with a score, say the experts -- and those who think they are experts.
So how did the second half begin? Arizona State marched down the field and kicked a field goal to claim momentum. Stanford's lead was gone, but things started to look up almost immediately.
Costello and Love came out for the Cardinal's first possession of the second half and produced the best drive the game had seen up until that point. There was more help from another Arizona State pass interference penalty, but this series was more about showcasing the strength and diversity of the Stanford offense. The running game didn't look as anemic as it had in the first half, and Costello completed passes to four different receivers, the last coming on 3rd and 3 from the ASU 28. Costello dropped back and the Sun Devils brought pressure, hoping to harass him into a mistake. Trevor Speights stayed in the backfield, and while his blitz pickup wasn't perfect, he was able to chip a blitzing linebacker just enough to give his quarterback enough time to wait for a receiver to open up. Arcega-Whiteside ran a skinny post route from the right, but Costello first looked to his left to pull the safety away from the middle of the field. Once the safety bit, Costello looked back to the middle and rifled the ball to Arcegatron, who was wide open for the touchdown.
Stanford now led 13-6, and ninety seconds later the offense was back out on the field. Scarlett opened the series with a nice 25-yard run, and later in the drive Costello connected on three straight passes to three different receivers -- Speights, Irwin, and Arecega-Whiteside -- and the Cardinal was quickly knocking on the door again with 1st and goal at the 1. Scarlett dove into the end zone from there, and Stanford suddenly had a commanding 20-6 lead with less than eighteen minutes to play.
The key to these two touchdown drives was success on 1st and 2nd downs. There had only been two 3rd down plays on the first drive, and each of those was a stress-free 3rd and 3; this second drive didn't see a single 3rd down. Yes, the Arizona State defense was showing signs of fatigue, but the Stanford offense was also showing signs of life. For the first time in ages, it felt like we were watching Stanford football again, and it was delicious.
Oh, and here's a quick note about the third quarter. Stanford's first quarter struggles have been documented exhaustively, but not much is said about how the Cardinal dominates the third quarter. After outscoring the Sun Devils 14-3, Stanford has now returned from halftime and outscored its opponents 73-15, making the third quarter far and way their best fifteen minutes of the game. Thursday night was the fourth time in seven games that they've scored two touchdowns in the quarter. You'd think this would put an end to the idea that they should never allow opponents to open the second half with the ball, but I'm sure it won't.
It should also be noted that the Stanford defense played well through much of the night. It was nice to have linebacker Casey Toohill back on the field, and he certainly made a difference. Arizona State running back Eno Benjamin had set a school record only ten days earlier by rushing for 328 yards against Oregon State, but he was a non-factor on Thursday night, gaining just 38 yards.
The defensive star of the night, however, was sophomore cornerback Paulsen Adebo. We're currently witnessing the Golden Generation of Stanford defensive backs, with a run of talent in the secondary that hasn't been seen at any point in school history. Half a dozen safeties and corners have moved on to the NFL, but secondary coach Duane Akina has said that Adebo could be one of the best corners he's ever coached, high praise from a man who has tutored multiple Jim Thorpe Award winners. (For a great piece on Akina and Adebo, click here. It's behind the paywall at the Athletic, but if you aren't already subscribing, you're missing out.)
Adebo was tasked with defending Arizona State's best receiver, N'Keal Harry, for much of the night. Harry will almost certainly be selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft, possibly as the first receiver taken, but the young Adebo got the best of him on Thursday, knocking away a few passes and coming up with his first career interception in the second half. Adebo is currently tied for second in the nation with 16 total passes defended (15 breakups plus that one interception), but you probably won't see his name on that leaderboard next year; he's good enough that quarterbacks will simply stop challenging him.
Thanks to that defensive effort, nothing much of consequence happened after that. Content with a two-score lead and the clock on his side, David Shaw turned to the conservative page in the playbook, and Costello kept his gun in its holster for most of the rest of the game. While there is an argument to be made against this philosophy, it has worked in the past, and it worked on this occasion as well. (If there's one quibble I have, it's this -- Scarlett, who rushed 9 times for 54 yards, didn't touch the ball on Stanford's three fourth quarter possessions, while Speights ran 9 times for 5 yards, with those five yards coming on his final carry of the game.)
Yes, Arizona State scored a touchdown with 7:50 to play to draw within seven at 20-13, and yes, their final possession saw them drive into Stanford territory with a chance to tie the game, but Shaw's adherence to the running game had forced the Sun Devils to burn their timeouts, and they eventually ran out of time. The game ended not with a final heave into the end zone, but with a failed attempt to spike the ball and stop the clock at the Stanford 20.
I'll write more about Shaw's conservatism later this week, but for now hang onto two thoughts: any conference road win is a good thing; and coming off consecutive losses to Notre Dame and Utah, there's no reason to be critical of any win for this team. In avoiding what would've been the first three-game losing streak under Shaw, the Cardinal, believe it or not, maintained control of its own destiny. The only other one-loss teams in the conference, Washington State and Washington, are next up on the Stanford schedule, and wins over those two would give the Cardinal a death grip on the Pac-12 North.
But it's silly to think about such things right now. Instead, be happy that the Cardinal is moving in the right direction.
