Relive the 2013 regular season as we spend the next 13 days counting down toward the team’s departure to San Diego. Every day, from Dec. 12 through Dec. 24, we will take a unique look back at all 13 games this year. Visit thesundevils.com as well as all of Sun Devil Athletics’ social media outlets daily.
Second-Half Surge Falls Short, Stanford Holds Off ASU
Stanford 42, Arizona State 28
Sept. 21, 2013, at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif.
The reigning Pac-12 Champion proved to be a formidable opponent as the Stanford Cardinal rolled to a 42-28 victory over the Sun Devils, Saturday, in Stanford, Calif.
Arizona State outscored the Cardinal 28-13 in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome a 29-point first-half deficit.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jaelen Strong racked-up a career-high 168 yards and 12 catches in the match-up, the fifth-most receptions in a single game in school history and the most since Gerell Robinson in 2011.
Linebacker Chris Young tallied eight tackles in the first half to finish with a game-high 10, and Devil backer Carl Bradford recorded his first sack of the season en route to seven tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries.
Coming out reinvigorated in the second half after Stanford scored 29 of its 42 points in the first half, ASU scored its first touchdown of the game on a direct snap (a.k.a pitchfork snap) to running back Marion Grice. Grice carried the ball two yards into the end zone to put the Sun Devils on the board after moving 75 yards down the field in less than two minutes.
Stepping up the defensive pressure on the following Stanford possession, defensive back Robert Nelson intercepted Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan. Nelson would return the ball eight yards on Hogan’s second pick of the season.
The Sun Devils would strike again to start the fourth quarter on a 45-yard pass from quarterback Taylor Kelly to Chris Coyle for the tight end’s first reception of the day.
Strong narrowed the scoring deficit with a 27-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal’s offense was proficient in the first half, scoring four touchdowns on an average of two and a half minutes per possession. Stanford made the first strike in the game going up 7-0, at the 9:08 minute-mark of the first quarter and continued to click offensively throughout the half.
Jaelen Strong, a redshirt sophomore from Philadelphia, set career marks as he torched the Cardinal defense for 168 yards on 12 catches, the fifth most in a single game in school history.
Chris Coyle caught a 45-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter and with it, the senior became just the seventh tight end in school history to notch seven career touchdowns.
