Notable Numbers: Arizona State's Victory Over Stanford
TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils, despite taking their foot off of the gas at times, managed to score four touchdowns on their way to a 28-10 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Friday night.
Arizona State now improves to 5-1 on the season, while also raising their record to 3-0 in conference play to begin 2021. The Sun Devils have improved week by week since falling to BYU three weeks ago, hitting their stride as the Pac-12 schedule thickens.
While ASU looks to rest and regroup following another pivotal win for the program, get an inside look at the numbers during the Sun Devils' three-possession victory over Stanford:
Notable Numbers: Arizona State-Stanford
11
Amount of times Stanford crossed midfield with the football, scoring only 10 points throughout the night. This number is even more notable when taking into consideration that seven of those 10 points were scored on its second drive of the game.
ASU's "bend but don't break" defense halted any progress made by the Cardinal, as the defense intercepted quarterback Tanner McKee three times, prior to zero turnovers by the Stanford passer heading into the game. The Sun Devils also sacked McKee five times, which played a big role in field position.
Stanford also hurt themselves with penalties, most notably on a holding call that erased a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter, which would have made the score 14-10. The Cardinal wound up punting and couldn't get anything going afterward.
9
We knew that Stanford simply could not rush the ball heading into Friday night, yet their nine net rushing yards simply was the cherry on top of a fantastic performance by the Sun Devils' defensive front.
Sure, those numbers include sack yardage. However, Stanford gained just 40 overall rushing yards without sacks factored into the total. Defensive lineman Tyler Johnson had 3.5 tackles for loss, while fellow defensive linemen D.J. Davidson and Omarr Norman-Lott also found themselves in the backfield for a TFL.
Turning a team one dimensional was a key part of Arizona State's game plan, and as Sun Devils defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce said, "When you throw the ball 45 times, good things don't happen."
255
Rushing yards by Arizona State, taking advantage of a team that had allowed 212.8 yards per game on the ground entering Friday. The Sun Devils had 173 yards rushing at halftime.
Running back Rachaad White fell just four yards short of reaching the century mark on the ground, as he would have become the first Sun Devils running back to rush for over 100 yards this season.
However, ASU's rushing attack remained balanced, as five different players carried the ball for Arizona State. White (96), Jayden Daniels (76) and Chip Trayanum (50) all saw major roles over the course of the game, keeping Stanford on its toes through all four quarters.
5
The Sun Devils played their cleanest game of the season thus far, committing only five penalties for 53 yards on the night, a vast improvement from the horrid start of the season. The best part? Three of those penalties (45 yards total) came on Stanford's final possession of the game thanks to two roughing the passer calls on top of a pass-interference penalty.
There's been much talk about how these Sun Devils have played undisciplined thus far in 2021, and those claims are valid.
However, there's been an obvious turnaround from where Arizona State was, as the last two games have felt as if their opponents were mostly making those poor decisions or mistakes rather than ASU.
That will play a key part in ensuring the Sun Devils are capable of beating their opponents and not themselves as the schedule only gets tougher.