No. 4 Arizona State 41, Stanford 9
October 26, 1996Stanford Stadium
Attendance: 32,550
Weather: 65 degrees, windy
Arizona State football fans needed a break. Two weeks of fourth-quarter comebacks justified a breather.
The fourth-ranked Sun Devils pounced on Stanford early, leading 21-0 after one quarter, and waltzed to a 41-9 win before 32,550 at Stanford Stadium.
ASU improved to 8-0, 5-0 in the Pac-10. The Cardinal dropped to 2-5, 1-3 in conference play.
"We were hopeful that one of these days we would get a boring fourth quarter," ASU head coach Bruce Snyder said.
The Sun Devils got it, primarily because they showed little mercy at the outset of the contest, marching down the field on their first four drives. After failing to convert a fourth-and-two at the Stanford 14 on its opening drive, senior linebacker Scott Von der Ahe intercepted a Chad Hutchinson pass and returned it 29 yards to the Cardinal 31. Jake Plummer took seven seconds to put ASU on the board, avoiding two near-sacks in the backfield and firing a 31-yard strike to J.R. Redmond for a 7-0 Sun Devil lead.
Stanford pinned ASU at its own 10 on the Sun Devils' next posession, but Plummer drove his troops, capping the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Lenzie Jackson.
Hutchinson fumbled on Stanford's next possession and Pat Tillman recovered, giving ASU the ball at the SU 18. Plummer found Poole for 13 yards, setting up Terry Battle's five-yard touchdown run.
21-0.
"Coach Snyder came up to us before the game and said, 'Let's get started quick,'" Plummer said. "If you notice, I'm not tired. You keep pulling out games in the last second, it drains you. We wanted to get out to a lead and keep it."
Plummer continued his stellar 1996, completing 21 of 34 passes for 316 yards and two scores.
Stanford did battle back in the second quarter. Hutchinson was yanked and backup Todd Husak threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Clark to make the score 21-6. But linebacker Derek Smith blocked the extra point, giving the Sun Devils their third consecutive game with a block. The Cardinal added a field goal near the end of the half and ASU walked into the lockerroom with a little luster off of their impressive start.
"We went up 21-0 and we threw out an anchor," Snyder said. "I was not happy at all at halftime."
So the Sun Devils began the second half the same way they began the first. ASU took the kickoff and marched 75 yards, scoring on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line on a dive by fullback Jeff Paulk.
The Sun Devil defense kept pace, as Courtney Jackson intercepted a Husak pass at the Stanford 40. Plummer found Poole for 29 yards and ran it in two plays later to give ASU a 35-9 cushion.
Poole, a native of Clovis, Calif., gave his 100 family and friends plenty to cheer about, catching a career-high 10 balls for 161 yards.
"Keith had a huge day," Plummer said. "They weren't doubling him, I guess they thought they could match up with them. That's my man and when he gets open like that, I've got to get him the ball."
Another Sun Devil playing close to home was Tillman, who intercepted a Husak pass on the next play from scrimmage. ASU, aided by a triple reverse, got the ball down to the SU nine-yard line before sttling for a 27-yard field goal by Robert Nycz.
"Tillman had a monster game," Snyder said.
Indeed. Besides his fourth pick of the season and the fumble recovery, the junior from San Jose led ASU in tackles with eight, two for loss.
"I like playing on the road," Tillman said. "I had a lot of friends screaming and yelling for me. I had more motivation than usual. It was fun."
The entire defense had fun in the second half, not allowing a first down until midway through the fourth quarter. For the game, the Sun Devils held Stanford to 298 total yards, their best showing since limiting Boise State to 236 yards in week five.
"I am really pleased for the defense," Snyder said. "The fact that we shut them out after halftime was significant."
Far more significant was the win, which kept the Sun Devils in the driver's seat for a Rose Bowl berth.
"We didn't make it exciting in the fourth quarter and we did it as a team," Plummer said. "We're 8-0 and we're rolling."
Game Notes- ASU moved to 8-0 for the first time since 1982.
- Jake Plummer moved to fourth in the Pac-10 in career touchdown tosses with 61.
- The Sun Devils broke the 40-point barrier for the seventh time in eight tries.
- Jeff Paulk scored his first career touchdown.
- ASU remained fourth in the AP Poll and the USA Today/CNN Coaches' Poll.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Arizona State | 21 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 41 |
| Stanford | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Scoring |
| First Quarter |
| ASU (6:01)- J.R. Redmond 31-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 1 play, 31 yards, 0:07 |
| ASU (0:28)- Lenzie Jackson 17-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 10 plays, 90 yards, 4:36 |
| ASU (0:06)- Terry Battle 5-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 2 plays, 18 yards, 0:11 |
| Second Quarter |
| STANFORD (6:26)- Greg Clark 45-yard pass from Todd Husak (kick blocked) Drive: 9 plays, 89 yards, 4:49 |
| STANFORD (0:00)- Kevin Miller 27-yard field goal. Drive: 4 plays, 38 yards, 0:36 |
| Third Quarter |
| ASU (10:24)- Jeff Paulk 1-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:36 |
| ASU (8:49)- Jake Plummer 4-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 3 plays, 40 yards, 0:46 |
| ASU (6:32)- Robert Nycz 27-yard field goal. Drive: 6 plays, 29 yards, 2:04 |
| Fourth Quarter |
| ASU (10:30)- Robert Nycz 25-yard field goal. Drive: 5 plays, 30 yards, 1:53 |
| Rushing | Att | Yards | Average | TD |
| Stanford | ||||
| Mike Mitchell | 17 | 81 | 4.8 | |
| Greg Comella | 6 | 23 | 3.8 | |
| Damon Dunn | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | |
| Anthony Bookman | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | |
| Chad Hutchinson | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | |
| Todd Husak | 3 | -28 | -9.3 | |
| Arizona State | ||||
| Terry Battle | 14 | 80 | 5.7 | 1 |
| Marlon Farlow | 16 | 73 | 4.6 | |
| Jeff Paulk | 6 | 14 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Kenny Mitchell | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | |
| J.R. Redmond | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | |
| Jake Plummer | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Passing | Comp | Att | Yards | Int | TD |
| Stanford | |||||
| Todd Husak | 17 | 34 | 173 | 2 | 1 |
| Chad Hutchinson | 3 | 7 | 17 | 1 | |
| Arizona State | |||||
| Jake Plummer | 21 | 34 | 316 | 1 | 2 |
| Steve Campbell | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yards | TD |
| Stanford | |||
| Damon Dunn | 4 | 29 | |
| Brian Manning | 3 | 25 | |
| Greg Clark | 2 | 48 | 1 |
| Troy Walters | 2 | 23 | |
| Mike Mitchell | 2 | 21 | |
| Tommy Hanson | 2 | 16 | |
| Anthony Bookman | 2 | 0 | |
| Jimmie Johnson | 1 | 17 | |
| Andre Kirwan | 1 | 7 | |
| Adam Salina | 1 | 4 | |
| Arizona State | |||
| Keith Poole | 10 | 161 | |
| Ricky Boyer | 4 | 62 | |
| Kenny Mitchell | 2 | 17 | |
| J.R. Redmond | 1 | 31 | 1 |
| Lenzie Jackson | 1 | 17 | 1 |
| Kendrick Bates | 1 | 16 | |
| Steve Bush | 1 | 8 | |
| Isaiah Mustafa | 1 | 6 | |
| Terry Battle | 1 | 5 |
| ASU | Stanford | |
| Total First Downs |
24 | 18 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 5-16 (31%) | 3-15 (20%) |
| Total Net Yards | 498 | 298 |
| Total Offensive Plays | 82 | 75 |
| Net Yards Rushing | 175 | 108 |
| Total Yards Passing | 323 | 190 |
| Punts- Number and Average | 6-33.2 | 8-38.8 |
| Penalties- Number and Yards | 8-71 | 7-74 |
| Fumbles- Number and Lost | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Time of Possession | 32:00 | 28:00 |