Sweet home Autzen? Not so, say the Devils.
Try sweet home Arizona.
The Arizona State Sun Devils overcame a 21-0 first-half deficit
Saturday
to burn the No. 6 Ducks
45-42 in front of 56,432 fans at Autzen Stadium. Oregon (6-1 overall,
2-1
Pacific-10
Conference),
who had a school-record 10-game winning streak snapped, had won 29 of
30
at home prior to
Saturday.
ASU quarterback Andrew Walter completed 31-of-53 passes for a Pac-10
record 536 yards and four
touchdowns. Walter was sacked three times in the first half, but the
Ducks
were unable to
pressure
the sophomore in the second half.
Arizona State totaled 590 yards.
“We just could not stop them,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
“Their quarterback got hot
and did a great job.”
Oregon tailback Onterrio Smith — who rushed for a season-high 172
yards,
his seventh-straight
100-yard effort — scored two first-half touchdowns as the Ducks took
a
21-0 lead in the second
quarter.
Then the Ducks got conservative. Or complacent. Or cocky, depending
on who
you ask.
“We went to sleep a little bit and gave them some hope,” Oregon
quarterback Jason Fife said.
Oregon went three-and-out on its next two possessions in the second
quarter, allowing ASU to
sneak
back in the game with 10 points before the end of the half.
Smith scored his third touchdown of the game in the Ducks’ first
drive of
the third quarter,
putting Oregon ahead 28-10.
Arizona State responded with Cornell Candidate 1-yard touchdown run.
Oregon responded with a
nifty
catch by tight end George Wrighster, who took a 50-yard Fife pass
into the
end zone. Oregon 35,
ASU 17.
On Jared Siegel’s ensuing kickoff, Candidate fumbled the squib kick
at the
ASU 20, the ball
bounced about 20 yards back to Siegel, who, along with several other
Ducks, could not find the
handle. Arizona State recovered the ball and momentum.
Five plays later, the Devils were again in the end zone thanks to
another
Walter touchdown pass,
this time to tight end Mike Pinkard.
After another Oregon three-and-out, Walter hit wide receiver Shaun
McDonald on the first play
for
a 67-yard score. Walter found McDonald again to complete the
two-point
conversion, and get the
Devils within three and 35-32.
“We were beating ourselves, they’re weren’t stopping us,” Walter said
of
ASU’s slow start. “This
(win) was huge for our program. It showed a lot of character today to
comeback from being down
21-0 and winning.”
With the Ducks driving into ASU territory early in the fourth
quarter,
Smith fumbled at the
Arizona State 34-yard line, setting up yet another Walter deep pass.
This
time he found Justin
Taplin for a 58-yard touchdown. ASU 39, UO 35.
A Mike Barth field goal put the Devils ahead 42-35. Oregon answered
when
Fife hit Samie Parker
in
the end zone to tie the game at 42 with 6:55 to play, stopping a 25-0
ASU
scoring run.
ASU then drove the field and ate up the clock before Barth drilled a
29-yard field goal with 1:58 left.
It then seemed like a perfect opportunity for an Oregon comeback. But
it
was not to be. Fife was
hit by Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs, forcing an
interception
by ASU’s Brett Hudson,
sealing Oregon’s fate.
The Ducks were in an eerily similar situation last season, when they
were
6-0 and returned home
from a road trip to lose to underdog Stanford. Oregon has never been
7-0.
“It’s almost identical,” Fife said of the two losses. “It leaves a
very
nasty taste in your
mouth. We don’t want this taste ever again.”
After the Stanford loss in 2001, Oregon went on to win their final
five
games.
And just like last year, the Ducks say they aren’t going to let their
first loss beat them
again.
“We can’t let ASU beat us twice,” Oregon linebacker David Moretti
said.
“It’s not if you get knocked down, but if you get back up,” Bellotti
said.
Contact the senior sports reporter at
[email protected]
.
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