For the past four weeks, Oregon has preached starting games fast. And in the first half of Saturday’s game against Arizona State, it did just that. The Ducks were up by 15 points and had four touchdowns, while the Sun Devils only had one.
But come the second half, Oregon once again found itself victim to a second-half slump. This time where ASU made three scoring plays, and Oregon with only one.
After an offensively-strong Oregon team fell apart, Saturday night’s game was ultimately decided by just a few key defensive plays as the Ducks (7-4, Pac-12 4-4) defended Autzen Stadium for the final time this season in a 31-29 victory over Arizona State.
The win marks Oregon’s fifth straight over the Sun Devils (6-5, 4-4) at Autzen Stadium — a streak that reaches back to the 2007 season.
“It’s obvious to say that we had some brilliant moments and we had some other ones where we shot ourselves in the foot,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “But our guys made it a point, it was the message of the week, that on every single down we were going to find a way to show everyone in the stadium, and everyone on the field, that this game was more important to us than it was for them.”
With a six-yard rush from redshirt freshman running back CJ Verdell, the Ducks scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.
Oregon closed the half with one of its fastest, if not the fastest, scoring drives of the season.
Starting with a 34-yard reception by junior wide receiver Dillon Mitchell, Oregon earned a first down at ASU’s 30-yard line. Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert quickly followed with a 22-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Justin Collins. And to complete the drive, sophomore wide receiver Jaylon Redd ran the ball eight yards for a touchdown. The drive lasted only 39 seconds and spanned 71 yards over just five plays.
“It’s not as much [time] as you think,” Herbert said. “We just have to speed things up and get up on the ball as quickly as we can and not spend too much time looking at signs.”
In the second half, Oregon’s defense took over where its offense failed.
Forced into multiple three-and-outs by Oregon’s defense, ASU was only able to convert three of its 17 third downs.
With less than four minutes remaining and Oregon up by just two points, junior outside linebacker La’Mar Winston Jr. out-maneuvered ASU’s O-line and reached quarterback Manny Wilkins for a clean sack.
As he grabbed Wilkins, the ball flew out from the quarterback’s grasp and bounced directly in front of junior defensive lineman Gus Cumberlander. The sack, turned strip-sack, allowed Oregon to recover the ball at ASU 45 for the game’s final possession.
“I really didn’t know it was a strip-sack, I thought it was just a sack,” Winston said. “When I went over to the sideline and they told me about it, I did a quick sprint down and back just because I was so excited.”
Herbert ended the game 19-of-34 for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Travis Dye led Oregon with 105 rushing yards. The Ducks recorded 449 total yards in comparison to ASU’s 324. Senior inside linebacker Troy Dye led Oregon’s defense with 12 total tackles.
Next up, the Ducks will travel north on I-5 on Friday to Corvallis to face its in-state rivals, the Oregon State Beavers. The annual Civil War will conclude the regular season, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. at Reser Stadium.
Follow Maggie Vanoni on Twitter @maggie_vanoni
