Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: Sun Devils put unbeaten home record on line vs. Stanford

By Cody Whitehouse

EUGENE, OR - SEPTEMBER 22: Linebacker Sean Barton (27) of the Stanford Cardinal runs off the field with a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon. Stanford won the game in overtime 38-31. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - SEPTEMBER 22: Linebacker Sean Barton (27) of the Stanford Cardinal runs off the field with a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon. Stanford won the game in overtime 38-31. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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With both teams coming off a bye week, ASU football hosts Stanford for a Thursday night matchup as the Sun Devils look to stay undefeated at home.

After a 3-3 start to the season, the Arizona State Sun Devils will look to get back on track after a bye week. The Sun Devils begin one of the toughest three-game stretches of their season as they face Stanford, USC, and Utah in their next three games.

Arizona State will begin their three-game stretch by facing Stanford who is entering the matchup coming off back-to-back losses against Notre Dame and Utah.

The Cardinal entered the season with College Football Playoff aspirations and was well on pace to back-to-back Pac-12 North titles after an overtime victory over Oregon.

After the victory, Stanford dropped their next two matchups in large part to the team’s defense allowing 38 points in a loss to Notre Dame and 40 points to what has largely been an ineffective offense for Utah all season long.

The Cardinal was without star running back Bryce Love in the loss to Utah as he sat out with an injury. Love has largely been a disappointment this season after a runner-up Heisman campaign a season ago.

Love ran for over 2,000 yards in route to 12 games over 100 yards rushing and several awards including Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. Since last season, Love has struggled behind a faulty offensive line and defenses keying on the star as he has rushed for 81.8 yards per game after running for 162.9 a season ago.

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Stanford will look to quarterback K.J. Costello to do the majority of the work on the offensive end as the Cardinal has passed the ball more than years past. Costello was a Pac-12 Honorable Mention a season ago and showed his ability to be a leader on the team as the team won the Pac-12 North.

Costello has seen some of the most growth in the nation at the quarterback position as he has already surpassed his yardage output from a season ago of 1,573 yards with 1,611 yards through six games this season.

A big part of Costello’s success has come through the emergence of senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside.

Whiteside leads the team with receiving with 541 yards including 226 in the team’s opening game of the season against San Diego State.

While Stanford’s offensive output has been commendable throughout the first six games of the season, the team has seen an overall decrease from a season ago.

During the team’s 2017 campaign, the Cardinals averaged 32.4 points per game and 202 rushing yards ranking them a Top 25 rushing team in the nation.

Through the first half this season, Stanford has averaged just over 25 points per game and a mere 85.7 rushing yards per game ranking them nearly 100 spots lower than a season ago at No. 124.

Despite the struggles in the run game, head coach David Shaw has shown he won’t shy away from his ground-and-pound philosophy as the Cardinals run the ball around 28 times a game.

For ASU, the team’s bye week will look to fill the holes in the run game after struggling to contain the run after being ranked the top run defense in the nation early on in the season.

The Sun Devils struggled against San Diego State defending the run as the Aztecs ran the ball for over 300 yards on the ground in a similar offense to Stanford.

Arizona State struggled again two weeks later as Oregon State’s Jermar Jefferson ran the ball 31 times for 254 yards. While the Sun Devils defense has shown the potential to limit the run including limiting Michigan State to 63 yards on the ground.

ASU will look to use their 3-3-5 scheme to not only limit Love on the ground but to also limit Costello through the air. The Sun Devils will look to do this by using the different coverages allowed by the scheme to look to slow Costello on the offensive end.

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The Sun Devils will look to continue the struggles of Stanford’s Love in order to beat the Cardinal for the first time since 2014.

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