Palo Alto, CA – The rain came down earlier in the day, but the skies cleared up and the sun came out about an hour before kickoff, providing a ray of hope for Sun Devil football. That hope quickly diminished early in the first half, as Stanford proved to be the more talented, more physical and better prepared team. The Sun Devils showed some fight in the second half, but couldn’t close the gap, eventually falling to Stanford, 42-28.

First Quarter

In a game where the Sun Devils needed to limit their errors to have a chance, Taylor Kelly started things off with a major mistake, throwing an interception and handing the early momentum to the Cardinal. Stanford put together two scoring drives, however they missed an extra point and led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Final Score: Stanford 42 – ASU 28.

Second Quarter

Stanford maintained their momentum in the second quarter on both sides of the ball, and ASU couldn’t get anything going on offense. The Cardinal added on two more surgical drives that resulted in touchdowns to increase their lead to 27-0. Just as things couldn’t get worse for ASU, a blocked punt gave Stanford a safety and another two points before the half ended.

Halftime Score:  Stanford 29 – ASU 0

Third Quarter

The Sun Devils showed some fight on the opening drive of the second half and drove down for a quick score on a Marion Grice 2 yard TD run. On the next Cardinal possession, ASU got a turnover on a Robert Nelson interception, but the Sun Devil offense dropped more passes and couldn’t convert on fourth down. Stanford then put together a long drive, but the Sun Devil defense was able to hold them to a field goal. After a blocked Taylor Kelly punt, Stanford marched down for another score to increase their lead to 39-7.

Fourth Quarter

Already in a deep hole, the Sun Devils never gave up as Taylor Kelly hit Chris Coyle on a 45 yard touchdown pass in the first part of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 39-14. ASU followed that up on their next possession with another scoring pass, this time a 27 yard strike to Jaelen Strong, cutting the Stanford lead to 39-21 with 10:55 left in the game.  They weren’t done. With just over six minutes left in the game, Marion Grice ran in another score and ASU cut the lead to 39-28. Even after scoring three times in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough to make up for the first half collapse.

Final score: Stanford 42 – ASU 28