Owen Marecic’s touchdown with just over five minutes to play helped seventh-ranked Stanford take a 17-13 win over Arizona State in Pac-10 play. Marecic scored both touchdowns while Andrew Luck went 33-for-41 with 292 yards and an interception for the Cardinal (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10), who have won their past five games after dropping a 52-31 decision at Oregon on October 2. Doug Baldwin had 10 catches for 122 yards.
Steven Threet was 16-for-26 with 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Sun Devils (4-6, 2-5), who have lost three of their last four games. Cameron Marshall had 12 carries for 92 yards in the loss.
The Cardinal struggled to get much of anything going on offense, but Andrew Luck stepped up late as the Cardinal offense moved the ball when it mattered. Stanford improves to 9-1 with the win and keeps their hopes alive for a possible BCS bowl berth. It was a rough day for several teams in the top ten as Oregon, Auburn, TCU, and the Cardinal all struggled in their victories.
Stanford’s march to a possible Rose Bowl berth continues next week in what could be an incredibly difficult matchup against their arch-rival, the Golden Bears of Cal in The Big Game. Stanford has to travel to Memorial Stadium where Cal’s defense has generally played quite well this year. Cal is coming off a brutal 15-13 loss to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks. As they say, you can throw the records out when these two meet.