OREGON 7/0/0/21 - 28
ARIZONA ST 7/3/3/18 - 31
TEMPE, ARIZONA - Oregon nearly completed a fourth-quarter comeback in an attempt to save their spot in the college football playoffs, but an 81-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels to receiver Brandon Aiyuk put the game out of reach for the Ducks. It was Oregon’s first, and final, conference loss of the season.
After the Ducks and Sun Devils traded punts to open the first quarter, the Oregon run game fueled an 11-play, 80-yard drive that put Cyrus Habibi-Likio in the end zone off a five-yard touchdown run. During the drive, Johnny Johnson III caught a couple passes for 37 yards - a preview of what would end up being a career night for the junior wide receiver.
The Arizona State offense responded quickly by scoring on the vaunted Duck defense with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Frank Darby. The score remained tied at 7-7 until 3:40 left in the half when Christian Zendejas connected on a 25-yard field goal attempt. Then, Herm Edwards’ Sun Devils nearly added to their lead by racing down to the Oregon 30 with 16 seconds left before the half, but a third-down sack by Austin Faoliu forced Jayden Daniels to take an unsuccessful shot at the end zone in the final moments of the second quarter.
Daniels and the ASU offense picked up right where they left off when they received the ball first in the second half. A short pass to Kyle Williams originally went for 46 yards thanks to a handful of missed tackles from Oregon, then the play was made worse for the Ducks when Troy Dye was called for a facemask, resulting in the Sun Devils reaching the Oregon 9-yard line. Fortunately, ASU was held to another field goal after three ineffective plays in the red zone.
The Ducks were down by just six points, an easily manageable deficit for a top ten team, but back-to-back punts from Oregon began to deflate the confidence of Herbert and the offense. the defense was doing its part by limiting the Sun Devil offense to just three points in the third quarter, but an interception from Herbert on the first play of the fourth seemed to ignite the home team.
ASU took advantage of their field position by getting the ball to Frank Darby on a 26-yard touchdown pass, his second score of the evening. Daniels then connected with Eno Benjamin on a short pass that gave them two extra points and a 21-7 lead. Herbert put the Ducks in a deeper hole by throwing his second consecutive interception, which Khaylan Kearse-Thomas returned 12 yards to the Oregon 20, but again, to the defense’s credit, the Sun Devils were forced to settle for the field goal despite being in the red zone.
Suddenly, Herbert awoke from his third-quarter nap by leading three touchdown drives on his final three possessions. Down 7 to 24, Oregon traveled 75 yards in under a minute using just three plays: first an 11-yard pass to Johnny Johnson III, then, after ASU’s Roe Wilkins was called for roughing the passer, Johnson III picked up 39 yards on the next play, setting up Cyrus Habibi-Likio for a 10-yard touchdown run.
Oregon’s defense kept the momentum going by forcing a three-and-out with 6:07 left in the final quarter. Again, the Ducks needed just three plays to score a touchdown, though this time all three plays went to Johnson III who tallied gains of 19, 23 and then 24 yards to reach the end zone and cut the lead to just three points. ASU started their next drive with a delay of game that put them at their own 20, then a second-down sack by Bryson Young and Austin Faoliu put the Devils in an even worse situation. But on third-and-16, Jayden Daniels connected with Brandon Aiyuk for an 81-yard touchdown pass that will forever be remembered by heartbroken Duck fans.
But the Oregon offense still had some gas left in the tank. Herbert led the Ducks on a nine-play, 61-yard drive that finished with Johnson III’s second touchdown. (Johnny Johnson III finished the game with a career best 207 yards and two touchdowns off 10 receptions) and the score gave Oregon a shot at the comeback victory. However, the Duck defense failed to stop the Sun Devils from running out the clock, and Johnson III’s performance was overshadowed by yet another surprising Duck loss in the desert.
“Against a good team, you have to be at your very best from start to finish. And we were not.”
- Mario Cristobal
Oregon Offense (total: 458 - pass: 304 - rush: 154)
Arizona State Offense (total: 535 - pass: 408 - rush: 127)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
Arizona State Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - INT: 2)
UO (9-2, 7-1) ASU (6-5, 3-5)