By Andrew Mather on October 15, 2014

The Cardinal and the Sun Devils have long faced each other in competitions that have been anything but predictable.

The favorite has managed to come out on top in each of the most recent contests, but it has never been in a manner that anyone anticipated. Both sides have had high-flying offenses ground to a halt by surprising defensive performances, and some of the greatest playmakers in the history of each program have been left with little room to find their rhythm.

One thing that has been constant over the last four years, however, has been some exciting viewing for Cardinal fans. Let’s take a look at the three most recent contests to see how this entertaining series has played out.

2010: Stanford almost runs out of Luck

A look at the third-most recent Stanford-ASU contest takes us way back to 2010, when a Cardinal victory seemed like a forgone conclusion. No. 7 Stanford’s star offense was averaging over 40 points a game behind Heisman frontrunner Andrew Luck, while the Sun Devils had recorded just four victories over Pac-10 opponents in their last 16 matchups.

It very quickly became apparent, however, that Arizona State wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Despite a ridiculous throw on Luck’s part from his knees in the second quarter, an impressive defensive effort on Sparty’s part left the game tied until well into the third quarter, when a Stanford field goal was quickly nullified by an Arizona State touchdown. The heavily favored Cardinal entered the fourth quarter down by three.

Eventually, the feisty Sun Devils defense just wore out. Three self-inflicted Arizona State penalties helped Luck, who had been locked down all game, put together a final touchdown drive with five minutes to go. Stanford’s defense held on to this slim lead to give the Cardinal a 17-13 victory.

Luck finished the game a seemingly impressive 33 completions for 292 yards, but Arizona State had found a way to stop him at almost all of the critical moments of the game. In a rare moment of foreshadowing, it was the less-celebrated Stanford defense that really earned the win that day, keeping the Cardinal in the game until they could secure the victory and move one step closer to their eventual Orange Bowl berth.

2013, Part 1: Cardinal magic nearly turns to panic

As a result of the Pac-10 becoming the Pac-12, Stanford and Arizona State did not see each other for two years after their 2010 defensive struggle. When they finally played again in 2013, both teams looked quite different. The Sun Devils had developed a formidable offense headlined by junior quarterback Taylor Kelly and senior running back Marion Grice, while the Cardinal had upgraded their veteran defense from a capable-but-inconsistent unit to one of the stingiest groups in the country.

That Stanford defense did not take long to shine. Kelly and Grice managed just seven points in the first three quarters while Kevin Hogan, led the Cardinal to score a whopping 39 of their own. The situation grew so out of hand for Arizona State that Stanford coach David Shaw decided to pull his offensive starters and coast through the fourth quarter toward the imminent victory.

That conservative decision from Shaw ended up coming a little bit too early. Kelly finally broke through the Stanford defense less than a minute into the fourth with a 45-yard touchdown pass, and all of a sudden the floodgates opened. Less then eight minutes later, Arizona State had added two more touchdowns to its total, and the former blowout had become a two-possession game. Confusion began to fill Stanford Stadium; the Sun Devils had been getting trampled just a few moments before, and suddenly, they were doing the trampling.

Shaw was forced to reinsert Hogan and the first-string players in an attempt to reestablish some control, and Stanford did come away with the win after the offense managed to retain possession until nearly the end of the game. Stanford still got a “big victory” over the No. 23 Sun Devils, but the late Arizona State drives left Cardinal fans less exuberant than the occasion deserved.

2013, Part 2: Hogan and Gaffney take it to the house

It seemed very unlikely that Stanford and Arizona State would meet again in 2013 after the latter quickly dropped another game to Notre Dame and the former fell short against unranked Utah and USC. However, after Arizona State landed a big upset at UCLA and Oregon was beat up in a surprisingly tough visit to the Arizona Wildcats, the Cardinal and the Sun Devils ended up winning their respective divisions and competing for a Rose Bowl berth in the Pac-12 Championship.

The matchup switched locations to Sun Devil Stadium, which seemed to give Arizona State a sizable advantage. ASU had yet to lose a home game that year, and Stanford’s offense had looked extremely shaky when playing in hostile territory. This left the Cardinal faithful quite nervous as the date approached.

In the end, however, Stanford gave its fans very little cause for concern. Hogan turned in one of his most dominant performances ever with 277 passing yards on just 18 attempts, and the Stanford defense once again gave Kelly almost no room in which to make plays. Stanford tailback Tyler Gaffney did more than his share as well, finding the end zone three times and picking up 133 yards on the ground. What had seemed an extremely uncertain matchup between the Cardinal and the Sun Devils ended up never really feeling close.

In the end, Stanford handed Arizona State an embarrassing 38-14 defeat. The Sun Devils may have since moved on from it, but they certainly have not forgotten. Thus, as the Cardinal prepare to travel to Tempe for this year’s matchup, the scene is set for it to once again be exceptionally enjoyable.

Contact Andrew Mather at amather ‘at’ stanford.edu.