Arizona State has been one of the few teams that has owned Oregon as of late, and the Ducks will try to reverse that trend Saturday.
“We haven’t had a win of that magnitude in a while,” Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens said of the Ducks’ upcoming trip to Tempe.
Clemens has been less-than-spectacular in his career against the Sun Devils. The senior is 0-2 and has completed only 19-of-38 passes for 203 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The 17th-ranked Sun Devils own a 16-9 all-time series lead against the Ducks and, more importantly, have won the last three meetings. Most recently, Arizona State defeated Oregon last season in Autzen Stadium 28-13.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti, fresh off his 50th Pac-10 win last week at Stanford, is 4-6 against the Sun Devils with his last winning coming back in 2001, a 42-24 victory.
Under Bellotti, the Ducks are 1-3 in games played at Sun Devil Stadium. Their last win on the road in the series came in 2000, when Joey Harrington tied a school record by throwing six touchdowns to lead the Ducks to a thrilling 56-55 double overtime victory.
“ASU has got to feel good about themselves. They competed well against the No. 1 team in the nation, so I have a feeling they will be fine,” Bellotti said. “We need to make sure we don’t relax at all, but continue to get better and better.”
Streaks end at Stanford
Though the Ducks dominated the football game against the Cardinal, many long-running streaks ended.
Clemens had his streak of 162 consecutive passes thrown without an interception ended in the first quarter by Stanford linebacker Michael Okwo.
Clemens did, however, continue his streak of touchdown passes. He has thrown at least one in his last nine games.
Cornerback Aaron Gipson had recorded an interception in each of Oregon’s previous four games, but that streak came to end Saturday as well. The senior corner was sidelined with a concussion, but is expected to play Saturday.
Running back Terrence Whitehead’s string of 17 consecutive starts also ended against the Cardinal as did wide receiver Demetrius Williams’ streak of five consecutive games with at least one touchdown.
A day of firsts
Running back Terrell Jackson and linebacker Blair Phillips each started his first game last Saturday against Stanford. Jackson finished the day with 29 yards in 11 carries and Phillips was tied for second on the team with four unassisted tackles.
Aiding Jackson in the backfield was true freshman Jeremiah Johnson, who got his first collegiate playing experience. Highly regarded freshman Jonathan Stewart recorded his first multi-touchdown game (3) and first offensive touchdown, an 11-yard catch in the first quarter.
“The young tailbacks (Jackson, Johnson, Stewart) stepped up and made plays,” Bellotti said.
Freshman wide receiver Jaison Williams also hauled in his first career touchdown pass, a 19-yarder from Clemens in the second quarter.
Clemens’ career day
By throwing for 393 yards against Stanford, Clemens moved to fourth in the school’s career list of total offense with 7,114 yards and fifth in career passing yards with 6,665. The senior from Burns has thrown for 1,516 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
“Kellen Clemens continues to play excellent football – just a great field general, a great passer,” Bellotti said. “Overall, I was very pleased with Kellen’s play and his distribution of the football.”

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