The Arizona State Sun Devils (3-8, 2-6 Pac-12) fell to the Oregon Ducks (10-1, 7-1 Pac-12) 49-13 as the Ducks showed how far ASU has to go to be a contender in the college football landscape.
The No. 6 Ducks gained control of the game early, scoring on their first drive within less than three and a half minutes of possession.
They didn’t stop there, continuing to score on every drive after that in the first half. When the clock hit zero in the second quarter, the Ducks held a 42-0 lead over the Sun Devils.
This offensive strength was a testament to Oregon senior quarterback Bo Nix, who threw six touchdowns. Nix also had 404 yards and completed 24-of-29 passes.
ASU’s redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet said Nix has played a lot of college football and it showed with his on-field presence.
“I think Bo Nix just does a great job of feeling comfortable,” Bourguet said. “But we knew that coming into this game, and we didn’t rattle him in the way we wanted to. But like we said, we got to tip our hat to Oregon. They’re a great team all around.”
Nix wasn’t the only player for Oregon making it difficult on the Sun Devils, as the whole team showed strength and power, especially the offense.
In past games, Arizona State has shown its defensive strength, something they couldn’t do against the Ducks.
The Sun Devils just couldn’t finish tackles against Oregon, which contributed significantly to the Ducks’ numerous scoring drives. ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said he wishes there was a coaching answer he could give to fix this issue, but there wasn’t.
“There’s definitely a tackling problem,” Dillingham said. “We didn’t tackle. Well, we’ve been good tacklers all year. To be honest, that’s been something we’ve done a nice job of. They’re just hard to tackle.”
Graduate student defensive tackle Deshaun Mallory agreed with Dillingham on the difficulty of tackling the Ducks. He said the Oregon running backs had a strong center of gravity affecting their tackle execution.
“There was a lot of times where you felt like they were going down to the ground with you then you look up, and they’re still getting yards at the carry,” Mallory said.
Mallory, who won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after ASU’s win against UCLA, had three total tackles compared to his nine against UCLA.
Among the players ASU’s defense struggled to tackle were junior tight end Patrick Herbert, junior wide receiver Troy Franklin, junior wide receiver Tez Johnson and junior running back Bucky Irving.
Herbert and Franklin each scored back-to-back touchdowns in the first half, putting the Ducks’ first 28 points on the board. Franklin also led the team in receiving yards, with 128 total.
Johnson and Irving had wins of their own against the Sun Devils. Johnson capped off the first half with a touchdown to put the Ducks up 42-0, and finished with 80 receiving yards for Oregon. Irving led in rushing yards and totaled 63.
Dillingham said through all of this, it was clear that Oregon was a stronger team in all aspects.
“We could have won football games,” Dillingham said. “That team right there, that team was better than us. Point blank, significantly better than us.”
Despite knowing this well into the first half of the game, the Sun Devils still fought on. Dillingham challenged them at halftime to win the second half, even though it didn’t mean winning the game.
Arizona State kicked two field goals and had a touchdown in the second half. The fourth-quarter field goal followed an interception by freshman cornerback Kieth Abney, which was his first of the season.
Redshirt junior tight end Jalin Conyers said the moments where players get great experiences on the field despite being down are what will make them a better team in the future.
“We could have quit,” Conyers said. “We could have sat down around the ball every play and just did whatever we wanted. But instead, we fought. I think we won the second half, actually. That was our goal.”
The Sun Devils not only fought to win big plays but fought to keep their offense healthy and steady. They continued to use Bourguet, junior running back Cam Skattebo and Conyers in the quarterback position, something that worked well for them against UCLA.
The three totaled 205 passing yards. Dillingham said passing the ball and changing out players every now and then is the best way to keep the team healthy.
“Part of the game is to try to get our guys a break,” Dillingham said. “You can’t just play five guys 65-70 snaps on a college football game. But that’s kind of where we’re at. So part of that is literally to try and give those guys a rest to keep our guys healthy.”
Looking ahead to playing the University of Arizona over Thanksgiving weekend, the Sun Devils hope to work on their in-game responses to pressure. Dillingham said there are moments when the team turns the table but others where they get on their heels, but don’t know how to recover.
“We’re doing a really good, showing up back to work and getting better. Didn’t play well against Utah, responded, and found a way to win against UCLA. Well, what we’re not responding well is in the game. We’re not responding well when someone punches us.”
The Sun Devils especially want to improve on their in-game recovery since they won’t have a shot at a bowl game this year.
The No. 19 Wildcats mark a perfect culminating challenge for the first year of Dillingham’s tenure.
Conyers said it would be important for the team to take a look in the mirror and not make it too big of a game.
“We know we got to control what we can and that we got to give everything we got, but this is the last one. This is our last game,” Conyers said. “There’s no bowl game for us. We knew that going into this season, so this is our bowl game. This is our chance to send out the seniors the right way and make sure we come home with a victory.”
Arizona State will face the Wildcats at Mountain America Stadium on Nov. 25 for a chance to win the Territorial Cup.
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