Oregon wins fourth straight against ASU to remain tied for first in Pac-10

By Jesse Sowa
Albany Democrat-Herald

TEMPE, Ariz. - With the roller coaster that has become the University of Oregon football season the past six weeks, the Ducks were set for another loss Saturday.

Oregon was far from perfect against Arizona State but still came away with an important 54-20 Pacific-10 Conference win at Sun Devil Stadium.

The victory moves the Ducks to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, tied with USC for the Pac-10 lead with four games remaining.

Oregon halted a five-game streak of alternating wins and losses with a strong running game and a defense that was stingy with its yards allowed.

The Ducks led 23-6 at halftime and put the game away in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

Oregon took the opening drive of the second half for a score, with Jeremiah Johnson’s 6-yard run capping the 12-play drive.

Oregon defensive end Nick Reed recovered a fumble on Arizona State’s next drive.

Two plays later, LeGarrette Blount scored on a play that looked eerily similar to an improbable Maurice Morris touchdown in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl on the same field.

Blount spun out of an arm tackle and landed with his back on a downed defender. Blount jumped to his feet and scored from 19 yards out, helping Oregon to a 37-6 lead.

The play was reviewed but not overturned.

The Ducks have now won four straight against the Sun Devils and will prepare for their next game, at California (5-2, 3-1) next Saturday.

Oregon took the lead on its first possession, going 66 yards in five plays, with Jeremiah Johnson carrying a majority of the load on a 43-yard touchdown run.

The game then got sloppy, with three turnovers on the next seven plays from scrimmage.

Oregon took ASU’s second turnover in that stretch — a Rudy Carpenter interception by defensive back Walter Thurmond III — from its own 2-yard line and eventually reached the ASU 9. But two negative running plays were followed by a Matt Evensen missed field goal from 32 yards out, erasing what seemed like sure points.

The Ducks took advantage of a 20-yard ASU punt with a four-play, 40-yard drive that Jeremiah Masoli capped with a 3-yard scoring run following his own 28-yard scamper down the right sideline.

Oregon botched the PAT attempt but still led 13-0 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

The Ducks also started their next drive in ASU territory and took advantage with a second chance.

Carpenter tripped and fell for a 9-yard loss on a fourth-and-one play, handing the Ducks the ball at the ASU 39. Blount scored four plays later on a 10-yard run.

Oregon turned another short field on its next possession into a 52-yard Evensen field goal, a career best that was long enough to hit the net behind the goal posts.

With the Ducks up 23-0, Arizona State got its first first down of the game with 6:16 remaining in the second quarter.

The Sun Devils’ defense set up their first score after Morris Wooten returned a Masoli interception 24 yards to the Oregon 1, and Carpenter ran it in on the next play.

Arizona State’s Thomas Weber missed the PAT and Oregon led 23-6 at halftime.

The Ducks held the Sun Devils to just 89 yards offense in the first half while piling up 252 of their own.