ARIZONA ST 14/0/8/13 - 35
OREGON 17/13/3/21 - 54
EUGENE, OREGON - Oregon snapped a five-game losing streak behind a record-tying performance from freshman Justin Herbert in his first career win as a starter. The hometown hero tied Bill Musgrave’s single-game passing record of 489 yards, set against BYU during the 1989 season. The Duck defense also helped fuel the cathartic 54-35 victory by tallying three interceptions.
Both squads were led by freshman quarterbacks; Oregon was investing in its future by making the switch from grad transfer Dakota Prukop to their young, promising backup, while ASU was forced to give Dillon Sterling-Cole his first career start after Manny Wilkins went down in the first quarter the week before against Washington State.
The first quarter was a shootout between the PAC-12 foes. The Ducks forced a Sun Devil punt on the opening drive and then quickly got on the board with a 72-yard touchdown pass to tight end Pharaoh Brown. ASU running back Kalen Ballage helped his team respond by racking up 58 yards on the following drive, including a 12-yard scoring run that tied the game after a Zane Gonzalez extra point. Oregon scored the next ten points off a 31-yard touchdown pass to Charles Nelson and a 36-yard field goal from Aidan Schneider, however, Arizona State cut the lead to three at the end of the first by capping off an eight-play, 70-yard drive with a short touchdown run on a diving quarterback keeper.
Back-to-back Oregon field goals of 37 and 30 yards gave the home team some momentum in the second, then a Duck passrush allowed walk-on Kaulana Apelu to pick off the Sun Devils. Three plays later, Brown caught his second touchdown of the game to give Oregon a 30-14 lead with nine seconds remaining before the half.
Schneider, who already had three field goals on the day, missed a 40-yard attempt in the middle of the third. Arizona State rode the momentum to another Ballage touchdown run, and after a successful two-point conversion which also featured Ballage, the Sun Devils were down by just one score. A 49-yard pass to Jalen Brown set up another field goal attempt from Schneider, who this time connected from 23 yards out to put the Ducks up 33 to 23 with 28 seconds left before the final quarter.
A nine-yard touchdown pass to N’Keal Harry put ASU in striking distance again, but this time they failed to convert their two-point attempt. Things looked sketchy for the Ducks when they found themselves at third-and-10 near midfield, but Herbert showed off his skill by connecting with Johnny Mundt for a 53-yard score. A fumble from Kani Benoit resulted in a passing touchdown from running back Ballage to Kody Hohl to cut the lead to five, but it would be the final Sun Devil score of the contest.
Tony Brooks-James added to the Duck lead with a 58-yard touchdown run, and Royce Freeman tallied the final touchdown of the day when he sidestepped a Sun Devil defender to stroll into the end zone from the ASU 10. Tyree Robinson intercepted Sterling-Cole late in the fourth and returned it 84 yards to set up the Freeman score, then freshman Brenden Schooler ended ASU’s final drive with the third and final pick.
Sterling Cole finished 21-of-38 for 302 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, while adding another score on the ground. Herbert was 31-of-42 for a record-tying 489 yards and four touchdowns. Herbert’s 23 yards on 11 carries also gave him the program record for most yards in a single game at 512.
"The last couple games, we learned a lot from. Finally we were able to show it today. We've just got to keep building on it, because this was a good week, and we've got to learn from it”
- Justin Herbert
Oregon Offense (total: 734 - pass: 489 - rush: 245)
Arizona State Offense (total: 468 - pass: 329 - rush: 139)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 3 - INT: 3)
Arizona State Defense (forced turnovers: 1 - FUM: 1)
UO (3-5, 1-4) ASU (5-4, 2-4)