The No. 4 Oregon Ducks forced seven Arizona State turnovers en route to a 42-31 win at Sun Devil Stadium Saturday night.
With the victory Oregon improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in Pacific-10 Conference play heading into an important matchup with the No. 9 Stanford Cardinal on Oct. 2. Arizona State dropped to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Pac-10 play.
The Ducks scored two defensive touchdowns in the game as sophomore free safety John Boyett and redshirt freshman linebacker Boseko Lokombo each reached the end zone for the first time in their young careers.
Boyett recorded the first of Arizona State quarterback Steven Threet’s four interceptions, returning the pick 39 yards for the score to put the Ducks up 14-7 with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter.
“The coaches called a great call for the situation,” Boyett told the Register-Guard. “They had me playing deep, where I could just read the quarterback and break on the route.”
From there, the Sun Devils rattled off 17 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the opening half.
Threet, a junior transfer and former Michigan Wolverine, hit Mike Willie and Kerry Taylor with 10- and 28-yard touchdown strikes during that stretch. The two scores sandwiched a 34-yard field goal from Thomas Weber, and it appeared Arizona State was going take a two-score lead into halftime.
However, minutes later sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas led an eight-play 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Jeff Maehl. After an Arizona State punt, Thomas led yet another scoring drive to put Oregon up 28-24 going into the half.
Thomas scored on a four-yard run after junior tight end David Paulson pulled down a 61-yard reception to put the Ducks deep in Sun Devil territory.
Thomas finished the game 19 of 33 passing for 260 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Thomas’ consistency was called into question following the game, and he agrees the passing game still has some imperfections to iron out.
“I have no problem taking shots if we’re going to get the ball down the field,” Thomas said. “We have some work to do, things to clean up, but it’s no problem.”
Oregon opened the second half with a 54-yard scoring strike to true freshman wide receiver Josh Huff, his first collegiate touchdown grab, to cap the scoring for the Duck’s offense.
Later in the third, Lokombo scooped up a backward lateral that freshman running back Deantre Lewis neglected to pick up, taking the ball 32 yards for the score to put Oregon up 42-24.
Arizona State would strike once more before the end of the quarter when Willie reeled in a 15-yard pass to complete the games scoring.
Threet finished the game 30 for 53 passing for 387 yards and three touchdowns. Gerrell Robinson pulled in seven catches for 94 yards, while Willie finished with five catches for 74 yards and two scores.
Oregon’s LaMichael James surpassed the 100-yard mark for the third time in as many games this season, and the 12th time in his 16 career appearances, finishing with 114 yards on 28 carries for one score.
The trip to Tempe was everything second-year head coach Chip Kelly expected it to be, and he anticipates an even bigger challenge next week when the Cardinal come to town.
“It’s great when you have teachable moments after a ‘W,’” Kelly said. “We’re 1-0 in the league on the road right now, and that’s good for us.”
Oregon will welcome the ESPN College GameDay pregame show for the first time this season. Saturday’s live TV show, presented by The Home Depot, features Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews, and has been expanded to three hours. The national airing of the show now begins at 6 a.m. on ESPNU, followed by the final two hours on ESPN.
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