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.
"I'm not saying he's the best one that's been through here, I'm not starting that argument," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "But at the same time I've never seen anything like what happened today. That was unbelievable."
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.
"I played poorly," Wilkins said. "I've got to put us in a better position to score. I made some poor decisions."
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.
"That's one of the biggest things I try to work on, trying to be physical between the tackles," Love said. "And make sure that every run that I have is efficient."
TAKEAWAY
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.
UP NEXT
Arizona State: The Sun Devils return home and will have a week off before hosting No. 6 Washington on Oct. 14.
Stanford: The Cardinal go back on the road to play at No. 20 Utah on Saturday.
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