Stanford, Calif. • Bryce Love rushed for a school-record 301 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback K.J. Costello passed for one score and Stanford beat Arizona State 34-24 on Saturday.
Love entered the day leading the nation in rushing and padded his total with another big day on the ground. Stanford’s junior running back had scoring runs of 61, 43 and 59 yards. He has 1,088 yards overall this season, the third player since 2004 to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in his team’s first five games.
Costello, who came off the bench to lead Stanford past UCLA a week ago after starter Keller Chryst was injured, completed 15 of 24 passes for 173 yards as the Cardinal (3-2, 2-1 Pac-12) won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Stanford also got a lift from its defense which forced two turnovers and held Arizona State to seven points in the second half, one week after the Sun Devils rallied to upset then-No. 24 Oregon.
Demario Richard rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns for the Sun Devils (2-3, 1-1). Quarterback Manny Wilkins passed for 181 yards but was intercepted twice, ending his school-record streak of 192 attempts without one.
Arizona State trailed by double digits most of the second half but pulled within 31-24 following Richard’s second touchdown, a 2-yard run, with 8:02 remaining.
Love, who broke Christian McCaffrey’s year-old record of 284 yards, helped Stanford secure the win with a series of clock-draining runs that set up Jet Toner’s 22-yard field goal.
TAKEAWAY
Arizona State: The Sun Devils couldn’t build off the momentum they gained by beating Oregon and missed a chance to secure their spot atop the Pac-12 South standings. Todd Graham’s group did a good job rushing straight at the heart of Stanford’s defense in the first half but got away from it in the second half when they had to play catch-up. The turnovers didn’t help but didn’t hurt as much as the defense’s inability to slow down Love.
Stanford: David Shaw’s team has bounced back nicely after losing back-to-back games to San Diego State and Texas Tech. This was a better litmus test for the Cardinal than UCLA, even though the pattern was the same. Love is a major force on the ground but Costello has also provided a big lift at quarterback, something Chryst struggled doing consistently before he got hurt. The defense’s play in the second half was also encouraging.
UP NEXT
Arizona State: The Sun Devils return home and will have a week off before hosting No. 6 Washington on Oct. 14.