ASU Football: Stanford preview

(Photo: Casey Ferreirae/WCSN)

The gauntlet continues for the No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils as they welcome the No. 23 Stanford Cardinal to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Saturday night.

The Sun Devils lost to the Cardinal 42-28 early last season but got a rematch in the Pac-12 championship game in Tempe. The Sun Devils lost the rematch 38-14.

Questions surround both teams but that has not lessened the importance of this game.

Snapshot of Stanford

What makes Stanford special is the way they play, which is not special in any way.

They do not have a high-flying offense that scores 40 points and gains 500 yards every game.

The Cardinal run the ball, play fundamentally sound defense, use time of possession and field position to their advantage and, with their size, beat the snot out of their opponents.

It’s an old-school approach that is not always the most fun to watch, but the results are impressive. The Cardinal have won the last two Pac-12 championships, and are 11-2 against ranked opponents in that time, including 6-0 against ASU, UCLA and Oregon.

The 2014 season has been a strange one for the Cardinal.

The defense is dominant once again, allowing only 238 yards per game (second in the nation), 138 passing yards per game (fourth) and 10 points per game (first). No team has scored more than 17 points in a game against the Cardinal this season.

While the defense has been dominant in three key areas, the offense has struggled in three key areas.

The Cardinal rank 118th out of 125 teams in red zone scoring percentage at 68 percent. In 28 trips to the red zone this season, the Cardinal have 13 touchdowns and six field goals.

Turnovers have been another weakness. The Cardinal have turned the ball over 12 times in six games, eight of those were lost fumbles. Only one time this season have the Cardinal won the turnover battle– against Army.

Add in the fact Cardinal kicker Jordan Williamson is 6-for-11 on field goals and it is easy to see why Stanford is only 4-2.

Matchup to Watch

The Sun Devil defensive front against the Cardinal offensive line.

It seems almost cliche to say this, but Stanford rushed for 480 yards in two games against the Sun Devils last season, and that was a front with Davon Coleman, Will Sutton and Carl Bradford.

This season, the Sun Devils’ defensive front has not been good and now they face an offensive line that averages about 300 pounds and uses blocking schemes that involve multiple formations and pulling tackles, guards and tight ends.

If the Sun Devils get manhandled in the trenches again, they have little chance of winning.

Prediction

Nobody knows who will start the game at quarterback for the Sun Devils, or who will finish it, or even who will get the most plays in between. Head coach Todd Graham has said if Taylor Kelly is ready he will start, but he also mentioned the possibility of playing both Kelly and Mike Bercovici.

Whoever starts will need to lead the offense to points early and often. The Sun Devils’ problem in recent matchups has been falling behind the Cardinal and getting out of their game plan.

Stanford may help keep the Sun Devils in the game with turnovers and failure to score in the red zone, but that only matters if the Sun Devil offense can use those mistakes to their advantage.

If the Cardinal defense is as good as the statistics say it is, the Sun Devils will not have many chances to score, if they get any.

Stanford wins 24-14

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