Go Mighty Card

Arizona State 28, Stanford 10

After the stunning win over Oregon the week before, the Cardinal entered this road game against Arizona State with nothing but roses and possibilities ahead of them. They controlled their destiny in the Pac-12 North, and it would only take six more conference wins to clinch a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game in Las Vegas.

When you look at things that way, you realize that it was probably a bit too early to be thinking about Pasadena during a season in which Stanford is not as dominant as they were in the Rose Bowl seasons of 2012, 2013, and 2015. This is a good team, without question, but it's an inconsistent team.

Stanford 20, Arizona State 13

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.

Blogging with the Enemy: Arizona State Sun Devils

 

Only three weeks ago the Cardinal was riding high after the comeback win over Oregon, and fans had designs on a playoff run. A road win over Notre Dame would vault Stanford into the top five, and the relatively soft Pac-12 would provide little resistance as the Cardinal would cruise through October and November and into the Pac-12 championship game.

That was the plan, anyway, but then things slowly dissolved. Even though the Cardinal struggled through the first three quarters against Notre Dame, an optimist could easily craft a narrative to explain away the eventual blowout loss. Stanford, after all, had had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie before things got away from them in the 38-17 loss. The Optimistic Narrative says that the game was much closer than the score indicated.

While losing on the road to a potential playoff team like Notre Dame could never be called a bad loss, bad things can still come of losses like that, and in this case it was an injury to Bryce Love. On an innocuous 3rd and 21 play early in the fourth quarter while the game was still a game, quarterback K.J. Costello handed the ball to Love. Love was pulled down from behind, and his ankle (not that ankle, the other one) was twisted. As the best college football player of 2017 hopped off the field, two things happened in the Stanford Twitterverse. First, there was a collective flashback to the injury-riddled close to Love's 2017 season, and second, there was blame. 

Stanford 34, Arizona State 24

For at least the past three or four games I've found myself watching the game within the game. No matter the score, I pay careful attention to the offense, and each time they cross midfield there's a small part of me that's disappointed. Any touchdown from Bryce Love will be less than fifty yards. I'm spoiled. 

Blogging with the Enemy: Arizona State Sun Devils

It's been three years since Stanford and Arizona State last met on the field, and although that 26-10 ASU win was rather forgettable for the Cardinal and a statement game for the Sun Devils, the two teams went in opposite directions in the seasons that followed. Stanford concluded the 2014 season with a win in the Foster Farms Bowl, then won the Rose Bowl the following year and the Sun Bowl in 2016.

The Sun Devils, meanwhile, have faltered. They finished strong in 2014, capping a 10-3 season with a win in the Sun Bowl, but they went 6-7 in 2015 and 5-7 last year, putting coach Todd Graham squarely on the hot seat. Last week's surprising win over the Oregon Ducks may have temporarily saved Graham's job, but the vultures are definitely circling.

Heading into this game, the focus for Stanford football, of course, is the quarterback position. David Shaw wouldn't comment this week on the injury Keller Chryst suffered against UCLA, but all outward signs seemed to indicate a concussion, which would place him the concussion protocol, leaving Ryan Burns and K.J. Costello as the only viable options this week. Based on his performance thus far, Costello would obviously be the preferred option, and while many fans were bothered that Shaw didn't declare him the starter immediately, his choice not to isn't surprising at all. Shaw has never been quick to change quarterbacks midseason, but now he doesn't have to do anything official. Costello can start in place of the injured Chryst without any announcement from Shaw. Should the sophomore continue to have success, Shaw's eventual decision will be that much easier.

So what are we to expect this week? The Arizona State defense has played well against the run, holding Oregon's Royce Freeman under a hundred yards last week in the Sun Devils' surprising win over the Ducks, but I think this weekend will be a different story. Last week we got a look at what a properly appointed Stanford offense can do, and I expect we'll see more of the same on Saturday -- a steady run game punctuated by an occasional lightning strike from Bryce Love or a downfield attack by Costello, and lots of time of possession. That last part will be important, because Arizona State's hope for victory lies in its passing game, led by quarterback Manny Wilkins and his two game-breaking wide receivers, N'Keal Harry and Jalen Harvey. It will be critical for the Cardinal to keep that trio on the sidelines as much as possible, especially considering the first-half suspension of Stanford cornerback Alijah Holder.

Arizona State 26, Stanford 10

Twelve hours later, I'm still not sure where to begin with this game, so I guess I'll start at the top. The Cardinal arrived in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday looking to build on the offensive success they enjoyed last week against Washington State, and all signs pointed towards another Stanford win. After all, the Cardinal beat ASU twice last year and hadn't dropped a game to the Sun Devils since 2008. Even though the struggles of the Stanford offense have been well documented, there was nothing frightening about the Arizona State defense through their first five games. Surely the Cardinal would use this win in the desert to build on their momentum and head into the back half of the schedule with a strong head of steam. That was the expectation, but instead the exact opposite happened.

Blogging With the Enemy: Arizona State Sun Devils

Stanford and Arizona State faced off twice last year, once on each school's home field, but the results were the same both times -- decisive victories for the Cardinal, 42-28 at Stanford, and 38-14 in the Pac-12 Championship game in Tempe. 

Those scores might make you think that Stanford has Arizona State's number, but I'm not sure that's the case. Twenty fourteen, after all, is a new year. So is it a new Arizona State?

The 2015 Schedule

With no game to look forward to this Saturday, now seems like the perfect time to look at the Cardinal's 2015 schedule, released this week by the Pac-12. Far too many things will happen between now and next fall to predict outcomes of any of the games, but let's take a game-by-game trip through the schedule anyway, just for fun. Oh, and keep this in mind as we go -- the schedule sets up perfectly for a run to the playoffs.

2014 Schedule Breakdown and Predictions

Back by popular demand -- or, more accurately, by one person's demand -- is GMC's yearly schedule breakdown. Why wait for the games to be played when you can just read on? As usual, I'll give you my thoughts on each game along with the likelihood of a Cardinal victory, but just for fun I've also assigned a different 80s movie to each matchup. It promises to be entertaining...

August 30 vs. UC Davis
Movie: The Sure Thing
Quote: "I hope you appreciate the magnitude of your impending good fortune."

I don't know the real reason why UC Davis is on the schedule this year, but it might just be to remind Stanford fans how far the program has come. It was nine years ago that Davis somehow beat Stanford, 20-17, in a game that was surely brought up in the halls of the Stanford athletic department as some voices pushed to drop the football program down to Division II. In less than a decade, Stanford football has gone from being one of the worst teams in the country to one of the nation's elite. 

As devastating and shocking as that 2005 loss was, I can't imagine that anyone connected with the 2014 Cardinal is thinking about revenge. No one on the team was even out of middle school at that point, and this team has goals much larger than righting a nine-year-old wrong. This game isn't about revenge, it's about finishing without any major injuries.

I can't imagine that we'll see much from the starters after half time, but while they're in there it'll be interesting to see how the offensive line plays and what the running back rotation looks like. In the second half we should get a look at some of the younger players, including Christian McCaffrey, and the second- and third-string quarterbacks. It'll be fun.

Expected Outcome: This is a sure thing. 100% chance of Stanford victory.

Pac-12 Championship: Stanford 38, Arizona State 14

Arizona State was favored to win by most experts on Saturday night, and it's not hard to understand why. The Sun Devils had used their high-powered offense to win seven consecutive games, their fan base was foaming at the mouth for a Pac-12 championship, and Stanford had been decidely mediocre on the road leading into this game. Even though Stanford had manhandled ASU back in September, things had changed for the Devils, and they felt they had a plan that woud give them a victory and a trip to Pasadena for the 100th Rose Bowl.