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No. 5 Stanford hosts No. 15 Washington on Saturday. History scholars are not welcome.

Two years ago, Stanford ran all over Washington -- setting a school record with 446 rushing yards in a 65-21 win. That game was, for all intents and purposes, the beginning of Washington’s 2011 defensive downfall that crested with an Alamo Bowl embarrassment against Baylor.

Last year, in a rapid change of fortunes, it was Washington’s defense that rose to the occasion and held Stanford’s offense to 170 total yards, zero offensive touchdowns and just 65 rushing yards in a 17-13 win. The Cardinal were coming off of a then-shocking 21-14 win over No. 2 USC. That game might have been, for all intents and purposes, the beginning of the end of the Lane Kiffin era. But that's another story for another day.

So what does the recent history between these two teams mean? Squat. Diddly-squat, to be exact. This is a very different Washington defense than the one that rolled over two year ago. Just as Stanford’s offense is completely different than the one that struggled to move the ball last year in Seattle.

“We’re definitely a new football team,” Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said. “From two years ago we’ve made some pretty significant changes on the defensive side of the football from the staff standpoint. And I think offensively we’ve made some significant changes in scheme and style of play that has changed us dramatically over a two-year period.”

Indeed, Washington’s defense under Justin Wilcox has improved dramatically over the last season and a half. Through four games this season the Huskies are allowing fewer than 11 points per game. Offensively, the new up-tempo scheme is producing almost 600 yards per game, and the Huskies average nearly 40 points per contest.

Though the feeling of last season's loss still lingers for some Stanford players, it won’t be a factor in Saturday’s matchup.

“Disappointment,” said Stanford defensive back Alex Carter in talking about last season's meeting. “I know we felt like we had really given up an opportunity for our team to make a statement. For us, I think we just realize that last year was last year. It happened. This year we’re a different team with a different mentality. We’re just focused on this game.”

As for finding little tricks and intricacies from last season's game? Stanford coach David Shaw said don’t count on it.

“I never take the previous year’s game too seriously,” he said. “We look at them from a schematic and personnel standpoint. They have a lot of film from this year. We go back and watch a lot of schematic things, but what actually happens in games, there’s never a carry over. Last year when we played them, we didn’t think we were going to go in there and rush for 300 yards cause we knew they were a more sound, physical, athletic defense. We knew it was going to be tough sledding, just like it was, and just like we believe this year is going to be tough sledding also.”

So far, things have gone according to plan for both teams. The Huskies (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) have successfully negotiated a nonconference slate that included a win over Boise State and road win against Illinois. And despite the weather last week, they handled Arizona 31-13.

Stanford (4-0, 2-0) has looked explosive offensively, averaging more than 41 points per game. Quarterback Kevin Hogan ranks fifth nationally in QBR and the offense -- while still run-based -- has become more wide receiver-centric in the passing attack.

“They’ve changed some,” Sarkisian said. "Two years ago Andrew Luck was the quarterback and they were doing their thing with Andrew. They've worked themselves into Kevin Hogan and they have a lot of variety. Defensively it’s a lot of the same faces, just more mature. They pose a great deal of challenges for us.”

Pac-12 reporter Kevin Gemmell takes a look at some of the storylines in the conference this week.

ESPN.com's Kevin Gemmell discusses one good thing in the Pac-12: the conference has five teams ranked in the top 25 and four in the top 15.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford looked like the No. 1 team in the nation in the first half against Arizona State. It looked like the No. 5 team in the nation, which it presently is, during the third quarter. And it looked like Kentucky in the fourth quarter.

The good news for the Cardinal is the first three quarters provided enough padding that they prevailed 42-28 over the 23rd-ranked Sun Devils. And, really, how can a two-touchdown win over a ranked team ever feel like a bad thing?

"I'm not going to apologize for winning a football game," Stanford coach David Shaw harrumphed at reporters.

The problem was the appetizer and main course were so good, observers didn't expect to be served a plate of worms for dessert.

Stanford led 29-0 at halftime, outgaining Arizona State 258 yards to 103. The Cardinal were utterly dominant at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It was 39-7 after three quarters, and they could be forgiven for coasting.

But Shaw pulled starting quarterback Kevin Hogan and a handful of starters to open the fourth quarter, and things went a bit haywire. The Sun Devils scored 21 unanswered points, putting enough worry into Shaw that he reinserted Hogan in order to calm things down.

Coaches often talk about learning hard lessons about not becoming complacent over the course of a season, particularly against supposedly overmatched opponents. Stanford seemed to learn a lesson about not becoming complacent in a single game. While Shaw went out of his way to give credit to Arizona State for fighting back despite a seemingly lost cause, he also admitted his team let up because it thought the game was in the bag.

"Absolutely. It's human nature," Shaw said. "That's the coaches' responsibility to fight human nature. Human nature says, 'We're winning by a lot, let's back off.' I'll take some heat. Fine. I'll take some heat for switching the quarterback. Quarterback wasn't the issue."

That's at least partly true. Hogan couldn't be blamed for the Sun Devils gaining 314 yards in the second half. But his absence was followed by Stanford gaining just 13 yards on the two possessions without him. When he reentered the game with 6:18 left, the Cardinal drove 40 yards in nine plays for a chip-shot field goal that burned the clock down to 31 seconds.

The Sun Devils' comeback clearly soured the victory for the Stanford coaches and players. While a few went the proverbial "a win is a win" route, something that is undeniably true, there also was plenty of grumpiness. Linebacker Shayne Skov paced the sidelines during Stanford's final drive mouthing things that didn't seem to resemble love poems. More than a few heads were shaking in frustration. Assistant coaches looked like they were sucking on lemons.

When asked about dominating the first half, some of the players couldn't analyze it without bringing up the fourth quarter.

"We made a good statement in the first half," linebacker Blake Lueders said. "We made a terrible statement in the second half."

Said defensive end Ben Gardner, "We've got to take a little more pride in playing our style of football no matter the situation." Meaning even with a seemingly insurmountable lead.

On the glass half-full side, the first half was a thing of beauty. The Cardinal clearly held back plenty of creative schematic wrinkles while unimpressively handling San Jose State and Army in the first two games. On offense, the Cardinal's power running attack was nicely balanced by Hogan attacking downfield with pinpoint throws. Hogan passed for 128 of his 151 yards before the break, including touchdown strikes of 17 and 30 yards. He also had a 34-yard connection with Devon Cajuste.

The Cardinal outrushed Arizona State 130 yards to 7 in the first half. The defense sacked Sun Devils quarterback Taylor Kelly once, harassed him many times and intercepted him once.

Perhaps the Cardinal didn't count on Arizona State showing so much fight. The Sun Devils were horribly sloppy in all areas through three quarters, including surrendering a pair of blocks, one that yielded a safety and another that came on an attempted quick kick. But they didn't back down in the fourth quarter. Kelly threw all three of his touchdowns and 271 of his 367 yards passing after the break.

Arizona State coach Todd Graham took the blame for the poor start and the messiness, which included six penalties for 65 yards.

"I am proud of our guys," he said. "I'm proud of how they battled. I'm embarrassed the mistakes we made as a coaching staff."

In fact, you could include Arizona State in the classroom for what Shaw described as "teachable moments." The Cardinal learned you can't let up. The Sun Devils learned you can't start flat. Both teams have high aspirations this year. With the Pac-12 as deep as it has been in years, taking off a quarter or a half of football could redirect the course of the season in a negative way.

"There are no games in this league where you can take your foot off the pedal," Hogan said.

Stanford will play a vastly improved Washington State team next weekend, while the Sun Devils will play host to USC in a key South Division clash. Things don't get any easier thereafter for either team.

If Arizona State plays like it did in the fourth quarter the rest of the season, it will be a player in the South Division race. If Stanford plays like it did in the first half for the rest of the season, it could end up playing for a national title.

And if either duplicates -- or amplifies -- its dithering portions of Saturday's game, then all positive bets are off.

STANFORD, Calif. -- In the weekend's only matchup of ranked teams, No. 5 Stanford jumped out to a big lead and coasted to a 42-28 win against No. 23 Arizona State. Here's how it went down:

It was over when: Stanford DE Ben Gardner blocked a pooch-punt attempt from ASU QB Taylor Kelly with the Cardinal leading 32-7 late in the third quarter. One play later, RB Tyler Gaffney scored from 16 yards out to give Stanford a 39-7 lead with 37 seconds left in the quarter.

The Sun Devils turned in a valiant comeback attempt, but the deficit was too big to overcome.

Game ball goes to: Stanford DE Josh Mauro. Making his first career start, the fifth-year senior had an interception and 25-yard return and a sack.

Stat of the game: Arizona State players who had punts blocked: Two. In addition to Kelly's blocked pooch, punter Matt Haack had one blocked, too. His, however, was unique in that it wasn't touched by a Stanford player.

Haack punted it into the back of a teammate, then proceeded to kick it out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

What Stanford learned: Keeping the play calling simple was a good plan. The Cardinal was vanilla in wins against San Jose State and Army to begin the year, only to breakout several unseen looks against Arizona State. Stanford moved the ball at will in the first half before sitting on it for most of the second half.

What Arizona State learned: The Sun Devils aren't ready to be considered serious challengers in the Pac-12. They need to find a cure for the "dropsies" and, at least against a team like Stanford, have to find more balance offensively. The loss did nothing to diminish their chances at winning the South, but does show how far they have to go long-term.

Reynolds ejected: Stanford All-American S Ed Reynolds was ejected in the fourth quarter for targeting. He will be forced to sit out the first half of Stanford's game next week against Washington State in Seattle.

What it means: Stanford is every bit the national title contender it was billed as before the year began. The final score isn't a clear indicator of just how dominant the Cardinal was. Stanford led 29-0 at halftime and was in run-out-the-clock mode with reserves rotating in on both sides of the ball for most of the second half.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford and Arizona State will give the Pac-12 an early-season matchup of ranked teams here today, and both teams can make statements that might resonate throughout their respective seasons.

The stakes, however, are higher for the fifth-ranked Cardinal. When you're widely viewed as a national title contender, you not only can't afford to lose, you need to take advantage of opportunities to record style points for a national audience. On a weekend that features few marque national games, the Cardinal have a stage on which to announce their presence with authority.

Arizona State, which is coming off a controversial win over Wisconsin, is looking to streamline the narrative for its season. If the Sun Devils win on the road against a top-five team, most folks will stop talking about that Pac-12 officiating debacle from last week. At that point, the Sun Devils’ rise under second-year coach Todd Graham would take a decisive step forward. A win over the Cardinal with no Oregon on the schedule also would turn up the pressure on top South Division rival UCLA.

It should help Arizona State that it's already played a high-quality foe. Not only that, the Badgers and Cardinal are power, line of scrimmage teams. The Sun Devils should know what they are in for, and might even have some new ideas for attacking with their speed.

The Sun Devils’ defense loves to attack. It led the nation in 2012 in tackles for a loss. Stanford counters with one of the nation's best offensive lines. If that line can thwart the Sun Devils’ array of stunts and blitzes, there should be opportunities for QB Kevin Hogan to make plays downfield.

There is a bit of mystery with Stanford. Neither San Jose State nor Army offered much of a challenge, so it seems likely we will see a lot more from the Cardinal on both sides of the ball. Hogan is of particular interest. Last year as a first-year starter, he was an efficient game manager. The Cardinal's national title hopes might hinge on him advancing from that to playmaker.

It's been raining here most of the afternoon. A wet field typically would favor the power team and hurt the speed team, but the field is in good condition and, at the moment these words are being typed, it's not raining.

Also of note, Stanford will be without defensive end Henry Anderson, one of the Pac-12's most underrated defensive players. After starting 16 consecutive games, he's out four to six weeks with a knee injury, so the Sun Devils might attack his backup, Josh Mauro, though he is an experienced, capable player, in an effort to wear down a position that might be depth-challenged.

Stanford needs this one more than Arizona State, which gets a key home test next weekend against USC. The homestanding Cardinal don’t want an early-season loss to severely damage national title hopes, and they don’t want to give up a game in the North Division standings to Oregon.

But the Sun Devils would be pretty happy to get people talking about another big win, not an officiating screwup.

Arizona State coach Todd Graham has watched film of Stanford's first two games, against San Jose State and Army. He doesn't believe, however, it was terribly revealing. It seemed likely that the Cardinal have plenty of schematic inventory on both sides of the ball that they have yet to reveal.

"I think they've been very basic," Graham said. "Obviously, there's a lot more."

Of course, with Stanford, it's not really about fooling an opponent with scheme, though there's certainly some creativity within its rough-and-tumble ways. Stanford is about lining up and trying to push its opponent backwards. And the Cardinal have been pretty darn good at it for a while.

Summed up Graham, "They are going to bloody your nose, they are going to play great defense, and they are not going to beat themselves."

Stanford has been the quietest of the nation's top-five teams. We've seen Alabama tested, Clemson make a statement, Oregon romp AQ conference foes and Ohio State grab national headlines with QB issues. The Cardinal, meanwhile, had a bye the first weekend then easily handled a San Jose State team that most folks don't realize is led by one of the nation's best quarterbacks. Last week, they were pretty lackluster in a win at Army, a game that was most notable for the collegiality among the teams and fan bases.

Stanford has yet to have a "hello world" moment, to announce itself as a Pac-12 and national title contender -- again. Therefore, a visit from No. 23 Arizona State should provide a strong initial test. This matchup certainly has more spice since the Pac-12 officials threw up on themselves last week at the end of the Sun Devils game against Wisconsin, allowing the Sun Devils to enter the game unbeaten and ranked.

It's also interesting that these teams have not seen each other since 2010, when Stanford and Andrew Luck prevailed in a 17-13 defensive struggle.

Stanford coach David Shaw, after watching the Sun Devils on film, sees a team that is different than old ASU crews. He sees a top-25 squad that plays smart football, which wasn't always the Sun Devils M.O. in the past.

"I'd wager to say maybe even a top-15 team, just as far as having the players and the scheme and the way the guys play, a quarterback who makes plays," Shaw said. "It's a big credit to what they have done there."

Shaw added, "They play as hard as anybody in our conference. I don't know if you said that about the Arizona State team in years past. You say it about these guys. They are going to fight you tooth and nail. They will get after you on both sides of the ball."

So even though you have an up-tempo spread team and a pro-style huddle-up team, the contrast in styles doesn't preclude it from being a physical, mano-a-mano matchup. It should help the Sun Devils that they got a test run of physical, line of scrimmage football last week against the Badgers and proved more than up to the task. The Cardinal, however, are far more talented on both lines than Wisconsin.

Further, Stanford is much better at quarterback. While the Cardinal offense is run first, it also has an improved downfield passing attack with quarterback Kevin Hogan, now a second-year starter.

"We're attempting more downfield, explosive passes than we have the last few years, but that doesn't take anything away from our basic identity as a power, downhill-running team," Shaw said.

While Stanford probably has been sandbagging a bit, that doesn't change the fact its first notion will be overpowering the smaller Sun Devils lines. The Cardinal are about imposing their will, and they will try to do that before they worry about being tricky.

"That's always what we strive for," running back Tyler Gaffney said. "We want people to know how we play. As Coach Shaw says, we're not a team that tries to put up 50 points. We grind. Everybody knows that. We run power for 4 yards a pop, 4 yards a pop, 4 yards a pop."

That approach might not be as fancy as Oregon's, but it undeniably has worked over the past three years while the Cardinal have won 35 games. Arizona State, however, should provide a nice test for whether it will continue to work as well in 2013.

A few storylines to keep an eye on in the Pac-12 this week.

1. Keep it rolling: The Pac-12 is 23-4 in its nonconference games this year and 16-3 against FBS competition. It’s also 8-0 against Mountain West teams. USC and Oregon State can extend that streak with matchups against Utah State and San Diego State. Washington State also renews its border war with Idaho for the first time since 2007 -- a series the Cougs have owned 70-17-3.
2. Air it out: Eight Pac-12 quarterbacks rank among the top 16 in total offense, headlined by Cal’s Jared Goff (429.7 ypg). Through three weeks, three Pac-12 quarterbacks (Goff, Marcus Mariota and Sean Mannion) have combined to throw for 440-plus yards four times. Only two other seasons in Pac-12 history have seen league quarterbacks throw for 440 or more yards more than four times -- 1998 (six times) and 2002 (five times).
3. Speed it up: Pac-12 offenses are scoring, and scoring fast. There have been 195 scoring drives, and so far 83 have taken less than two minutes. As you’d expect, Oregon tops the list with 23 of its 28 scoring drives taking less than two minutes. Utah is next on the list with nine.
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Bruce Thorson/USA TODAY SportsUCLA QB Brett Hundley was impressive against Nebraska and should be even more so this week.
4. Heisman moments? Mariota, who sits atop the ESPN.com Heisman poll, is off this week. But Brett Hundley has a chance to bolster his numbers against a New Mexico State team that is allowing nearly 50 points per game. Look for Mannion to continue rolling against a San Diego State team that is yielding 41 points per game. Same for Washington running back Bishop Sankey against an FCS Idaho State squad.
5. The headliner: For the first time this year, we have two ranked Pac-12 teams squaring off with No. 23 ASU’s trip to No. 5 Stanford. The focus is, and should be, on the lines. Stanford wants to do what Stanford does -- pound at ASU’s interior defense. The Sun Devils were pretty good defending at Wisconsin's inside rushing attack but were caught off guard by sweeps. Will be interesting to see if Stanford goes after the edges the way Wisconsin did.
6. Sankey rolling: Sankey now has rushed for at least 100 yards in six of his past seven games -- including a career-high 208 yards in the win last week over Illinois. Through three weeks and two games, he’s the national leader in average yards per game with 184.5. Dating back to last year, he has rushed for 1,142 yards in his last seven games.
7. Take a breather: Four byes this week, with Arizona, Cal, Colorado and Oregon all getting the week off. Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre, whose team had an unscheduled bye last week, said his team is back to practicing after several players were displaced by flooding.
8. Running like a Mad(den) man: Only six players have started the season with three consecutive 100-yard rushing games. We don't want to assume, but Sankey probably will have his third straight this week. For now, USC’s Tre Madden is the only Pac-12 player among those six (Paul James, Rutgers; Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin; Mark Weisman (FB), Iowa; Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, Arkansas). Per our friends at ESPN Stats & Information, USC is running the ball on 62 percent of its plays this year, up 18 percent from last year. Of those six mentioned, Madden is the only one who has faced three FBS opponents. He leads the Pac-12 with 149 yards after contact.
9. Mobile Hogan, mobile Kelly: Also from Stats & Info: Kevin Hogan and Taylor Kelly are the only Pac-12 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 20 percent of their passes outside the pocket over the last two seasons. Kelly leads all AQ quarterbacks with 115 passes attempted from outside of the pocket. When out of the pocket, Hogan has completed 76 percent of his passes, including 20-of-24 passes on designed rollouts. In comparison, Kelly has completed a lower percentage of his passes thrown outside the pocket, but his average throw travels 10 yards, 4.5 yards longer than Hogan.
10. Goodbye for now, Holy War: The Utah-BYU rivalry will go on break for a couple of years after Saturday. Kyle Whittingham insists that doesn’t mean anything. I’m guessing having two extra years of bragging rights, however, means plenty to the fans. Utah has won four of the past five and holds a 56-34-4 edge in the series, which dates back to 1896. Though BYU doesn’t recognize six games, split 3-3, from when it was Brigham Young Academy. But since this is the Pac-12 blog, we’ll recognize it, cause we’re cool like that. And Utah SID Liz Abel is awesome at her job for bringing that nugget to our attention. Utah quarterback Travis Wilson is coming off of a 142-yard rushing performance -- the second most ever by a Utah quarterback and the most since 1979. Should this one be a nail-biter, it's worth noting that both kickers -- Utah's Andy Phillips and BYU's Justin Sorensen -- are 5-for-5 on field goals this season. Neither has missed a PAT.

Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan and the Utah defensive front seven are on the spot this week in the Pac-12.