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This one was ugly. And it stings too.
Stanford took a 16-14 lead in the fourth quarter over the visiting Arizona Sun Devils but despite knocking out their starting signal-caller, ASU was able to score with 5:28 left in the game to knock off the Cardinal and their hapless offense, 20-16.
It was a Brandon Aiyuk 5-yard touchdown reception from backup QB Joey Yellen after Jayden Daniels was knocked out early in the third quarter on a hit by Casey Toohill. The injury didn’t seem to phase the Sun Devils as their passing offense fared much better than the Stanford passing attack did in this one.
Still, thanks in part to a dominant ground force, Stanford was in a place to win this one in the final quarter. It was, however, undone by a few errant decisions by QB K.J. Costello that ultimately cost Stanford at least a shot to win the game. On a third-and-long situation with just over 4:00 minutes remaining, Costello heaved a ball up to Michael Wilson but it was well overthrown, about 10 yards too far.
Head coach David Shaw elected to punt with 4:02 left on the clock and the ball in their own territory but the offense wouldn’t see the ball again as Eno Benjamin and Arizona State would run out the clock.
Costello’s errant throw had Wilson open but he missed him and ultimately missed a chance at a game-winning drive to his credit.
This is important to note because it was after that throw that we saw Davis Mills warming up on the sidelines. We just didn’t get to see if he was going to enter the game as they never received the ball back.
It’s back to the drawing board for their Week 5 matchup against the nation’s top passing attack in Washington State.
Game stat leaders:
Passing: K.J. Costello, 19-29, 314 yards, 1 TD, 1 sack
Rushing: Cameron Scarlett, 27 carries, 149 yards, 0 TD
Receiving: Michael Wilson, 4 catches, 145 yards, 1 TD, 69 YAC
Defense: Jordan Fox, 10 tackles, 6 solo, 4 TFL, 2 sack
Season stat leaders:
K.J. Costello, QB: 44-74, 656 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT, 156.2 passer rating
Cameron Scarlett, RB: 64 carries, 375 yards, 4 TD
Connor Wedington, WR: 17 receptions, 263 yards, 0 TD
Thomas Booker, Edge: 18 total tackles, 12 solo, 8 TFL, 3 sacks
Reminder, this is a fictional take on our recreation of the 2019 NCAA football season using last year’s updated rosters and playing the games in NCAA Football 14 on a Playstation3. For more information, check out our intro story.