After Arizona State won the coin toss at the beginning of the game, head coach Dennis Erickson decided to try something different: he elected to take receive rather than to defer to the second half.
That decision did not pan out, as the Sun Devils failed to gain a yard on their first possession and punted after three plays. The Ducks responded quickly with a LaMichael James touchdown, and Arizona State found itself in an early hole.
“I wasn’t going to give them the ball,” Erickson said. “I wanted to try to get some momentum going, and obviously it didn’t work. Normally I defer, today I didn’t.”
From there, the game began to spiral out of control quickly for the Sun Devils as the Ducks pounded them with a relentless running game. Oregon ran for 104 yards in the first quarter alone, and by halftime the Ducks had racked up 280 total yards and led 31-7.
“They’re so explosive,” Erickson said. “When they’re working on all cylinders like they were in that first half they’re difficult to stop.”
The Sun Devils found a bit of a spark in the second half behind the play of quarterback Samson Szakacsy. The redshirt sophomore replaced freshman Brock Osweiler, who left in the second quarter with a left shoulder injury.
After the Ducks were forced to punt at the beginning of the third quarter, Szakacsy plunged into the end zone for a touchdown cutting the score to 31-14. The run capped a 14 play, 78-yard drive that lasted 7:29.
“I was just excited getting out there,” Szakacsy said. “It definitely broke me in a little bit.”
After Kenjon Barner fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Szakacsy quickly guided the Sun Devils right back into the end zone with a 15-yard pass to senior wide receiver Kyle Williams.
“The motto of this team is just keep fighting,” Szakacsy said. “We’re not going to just put our heads down and give up.”
Despite Arizona State’s efforts, it simply could not keep up with the Ducks’ offense. Oregon responded to Williams’ touchdown with a four-play, 55-yard drive that led to a 21-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to a wide open Jeff Maehl. Arizona State did not score again, and fell by a final score of 44-21.
“I thought we were making a comeback there for a second,” Szakacsy said. “We stalled on some drives, and didn’t take advantage of opportunities…we kept fighting and made a little run, but it didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”
For his part, Erickson was noticeably impressed with Oregon’s offensive prowess.
“This offensive team is as good as I’ve seen in a long time,” Erickson said. “When they have things going, and they’re running all that stuff and executing it, they’re very tough to deal with.”
If nothing else, the game provided an important test-run for Szakacsy, and his play certainly got Erickson’s attention.
“(Samson) came in and gave us a spark,” Erickson said. “He’s very athletic, and I think he made a difference.”
“It was good to get out there and get some experience, especially against a great team like Oregon,” Szakacsy said. “It was fun, I had fun.”
Osweiler’s injury was not serious, but Erickson elected to play Szakacsy for the rest of the game anyway.
“(Osweiler) could have come back in, but it was a coaches decision,” Erickson said. “Samson was playing well, so we just kept him there.”
Erickson plans to re-examine the starting quarterback position this week as the team prepares for UCLA. In all likelihood, Szakacsy may have played himself into a starting role.
The Sun Devils also suffered numerous injuries Saturday night, as sophomore tight end Dan Knapp was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Another tight end, Jovon Williams, also hurt his knee, while starting right tackle Matt Hustad tweaked his MCL. Now, the Sun Devils are left to lick their wounds, both from injuries and a troublesome loss.
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Sun Devils unable to keep up with Ducks
Daily Emerald
November 14, 2009