ARIZONA ST 3/10/3/13 - 29
OREGON 7/21/0/3 - 31
EUGENE, OREGON - The Ducks survived four turnovers and a second half in which they scored just three points to defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils by a score of 31 to 29. Justin Herbert was picked off twice, but also threw two touchdowns. Dillon Mitchell, Travis Dye and CJ Verdell pulled off just enough big plays to build a three-point lead, but it was the Oregon secondary and a late-game strip-sack from La’Mar Winston Jr that sealed the victory.
The Ducks built a 28 to 13 lead at the half thanks to a defense that bent but rarely broke and big plays from Justin Herbert, Travis Dye, CJ Verdell, Dillon Mitchell and Jaylon Redd. A combination of Dye and Verdell fueled a touchdown drive on Oregon’s opening possession; the former picked up 50 yards on three carries and the latter touched the ball five times to close out the drive with a six-yard TD run. Arizona State responded by reaching the Oregon 12-yard line, but a gang tackle of running back Eno Benjamin on third-and-4 resulted in a loss of eight yards and a Sun Devil field goal.
After trading punts with ASU, Justin Herbert and the Oregon offense flew down the field in a nine-play, 83-yard drive in which Herbert was a perfect 6-of-6 for a total of 74 yards. The drive was capped off with an 18-yard pass to CJ Verdell that gave the Ducks a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter. A fumble from senior running back Tony Brooks-James at midfield led to an Arizona State field goal that cut the lead to eight, but with 4:03 before halftime, Herbert connected with Mitchell for a 57-yard touchdown pass that gave Oregon a two-score lead.
Late in the second, the Ducks were looking to run out the clock and add to their 15-point lead, but Aashari Crosswell picked off Herbert and returned it 50 yards to the Oregon 22. And on the next play, Manny Wilkins connected with Frank Darby for a touchdown pass with under a minute before the half. However, the Ducks weren’t ready to head to the locker rooms, and the Oregon offense traveled 71 yards in 39 seconds to re-establish their lead with an eight-yard touchdown run from Jaylon Redd.
The second half began with four consecutive punts, then a 31-yard run from Eno Benjamin kick-started an ASU drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal from Brandon Ruiz. Both defenses stepped up their game and forced four more punts that extended to the beginning of the final quarter. It appeared the Duck offense would return to the field after Gus Cumberlander sacked Wilkins on third down, but on the proceeding punt, Ugo Amadi -one of Oregon’s most reliable players during the 2018 season - fumbled the ball which was recovered by Nick Ralston at the Oregon 47.
Seven plays later, Wilkins found Brandon Aiyuk for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth-and-3, making it a one-score game. Brooks-James atoned for his earlier fumble by returning the following punt for 56 yards, and a couple of successful runs from Dye and Verdell set up a 28-yard field goal from Adam Stack to extend the Duck lead.
A 10-play, 75-yard Sun Devil drive was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run from Wilkins, but a failed two-point attempt kept Oregon’s lead intact. With 4:35 left in the game, the Ducks were hoping to run out the clock for the win, but Herbert threw an interception at the ASU 37-yard line. After the interception, Oregon’s fourth of the night, the Sun Devils had the ball near midfield with under four minutes remaining, but three plays into the drive La’Mar Winston Jr forced ASU’s first turnover of the game on a strip-sack, Cumberlander recovered the ball and the Ducks were able to kill the clock.
Oregon fans weren’t the only ones celebrating, the loss gave Utah the advantage over ASU in the PAC-12 South and the Utes would go on to play in their first ever PAC-12 Championship game.
" We had some brilliant moments, but we had some where we shot ourselves in the foot, The passion our guys played with to close out Autzen for the '18 season, to play like that for the seniors, really proud."
- Mario Cristobal
Oregon Offense (total: 449 - pass: 262 - rush: 187)
Arizona State Offense (total: 324 - pass: 182 - rush: 142)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - FUM: 1)
Arizona State Defense (forced turnovers: 4 - FUM: 2 - INT: 2)
UO (7-4, 4-4) ASU (6-5, 4-4)