Arizona State (4-1, 2-1) has climbed back up to 17th in the nation after defeating USC on a Hail Mary two weeks ago and a bye week last week and will look to continue their ascent up the rankings when they take on the 23rd ranked Stanford Cardinal (4-2, 2-1) on Saturday night.

Stanford won both head-to-head games in this match-up a year ago with 42-28 and 38-14 victories, including a Pac-12 Championship on the line in the latter game.

Taylor Kelly went down with an injury against Colorado and it seemed like all hope was lost for the 2014 season after a devastating 62-27 loss to UCLA, but Mike Bercovici would have none of that nonsense as he lead the team to a big 38-34 victory against USC.

Bercovici has totaled 998 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions in his first two career starts under center and will get the nod once more against Stanford’s number one defense in the nation. There will be offensive sets with both quarterbacks on the field and they will also be exchanging snaps throughout the game.

Kevin Hogan is back for his second year as the starting quarterback and has performed well thus far. He has completed 65.5% of his passes, while throwing 1325 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. His key target through the air is Ty Montgomery, who has totaled 37 receptions, 359 yards, and three touchdowns. Tied with Montgomery in touchdown receptions is Devon Cajuste.

DJ Foster jumped out of the gate brilliantly this year with three consecutive games of at least 147 rushing yards and also had six touchdowns in those three games, but has digressed lately with just 19 carries for 43 yards in his last two games. In those two games against UCLA and USC he has caught 10 total catches for 141 yards and a touchdown however.

In recent years, the Cardinal have relied on powerful running backs such as Toby Gerhart, Tyler Gaffney, and Anthony Wilkerson to carry their offensive attack, but this year there has not been a clear-cut number one rushing option for Stanford.

Remound Wright currently leads Stanford in rushing with 278 yards, but has just two touchdown scores. In total, the rushing attack has just seven scores on the ground compared to last year where Gaffney scored 21 rushing touchdowns on his own.

Overall, the Stanford offense ranks 60th in passing yards per game and 83rd in rushing yards per game for the 85th most yards in the nation.

Defenses are starting to key in on the star running back, especially with an unproven Bercovici at the helm of the offense, but now that Bercovici has shown that he can win a football game with his arm it may open up the offense to better running plays for Foster.

Jaelen Strong entered the season as a projected 1st round draft pick for the NFL draft in April and he has maintained, if not surpassed those expectations.

Strong has three games of at least 10 catches and at least 146 receiving yards, while also catching five touchdown passes in the process. Defenses are beginning to double-cover Strong, but without success as Strong’s ability to make over-the-shoulder sideline grabs is amongst the tops in the nation.

Like always, the Stanford defense is legit once again. They have posted two shutouts (UC Davis and Army) and have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game all year, as they average 10.0 points allowed per game (1st in the nation).

Blake Martinez currently leads the team in tackles with 45, while also snagging one of the team’s five interceptions. The Cardinal have 19 sacks in their six games, with Peter Kalambayi leading the charge with five sacks.

Overall, the Stanford defense ranks fourth in passing yards allowed and ninth in rushing yards allowed for the second best mark in the nation for yards allowed per game.

The x-factor for the game is Jordan Simone. Simone leads the team with 45 tackles (15 ahead of Salamo Fiso who is second on the team). The junior safety racked up 20 tackles in the game against USC which was the most for an ASU player since Mike Tingstad also had 20 tackles back in 1988.

Originally starting as a walk-on with the program, Simone has been the one major bright spot for the Sun Devil defense that ranks 92nd in points allowed and 103rd in the nation in yards allowed per game.

The Sun Devils and Cardinal kick-off at Sun Devil Stadium Saturday night at 7:30pm.