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Oregon Football: Ducks Defense Leads To Win Over Arizona State

By Justin Phillips

BERKELEY, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Jevon Holland #8 is congratulated by Thomas Graham Jr. #4 of the Oregon Ducks after he intercepted the ball in the endzone against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Jevon Holland #8 is congratulated by Thomas Graham Jr. #4 of the Oregon Ducks after he intercepted the ball in the endzone against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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The Oregon Ducks Defense had a breakthrough in a Senior Day win over Arizona State 31-29 at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon Football returned home after a rough outing last week in Salt Lake City. The Ducks would need more consistent play against Arizona State and home cooking is what Oregon has done well this season. Mario Cristobal has Oregon at 5-1 at home including a win over Washington, although that seems like a long time ago.

Saturday night will be Senior Night for Oregon Football. Several Oregon Ducks will be playing their final games inside Autzen Stadium including Jalen Jelks, Ugochukwu Amadi, and Tony Brooks-James. Play up front would be a key early for both teams.

Oregon won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick.

Travis Dye keyed the first series for Oregon Football getting the ball for back to back first downs to the Arizona State 17 yard line. CJ Verdell ran it in three plays later from six yards out giving Oregon a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Oregon Defense was able to hold Arizona State to a field goal on their first offensive possession. Running Back Eno Benjamin picked up 33 yards on the ASU opening drive.

The second series on Offense for Oregon led to the first punt of the game. Herbert tried to get the ball to Dillon Mitchell on third down. The ball fell incomplete and out of bounds. The Oregon Defense continued to bring pressure to force a punt by Arizona State. The Ducks started the third drive with a run play and the first completed pass by Justin Herbert to Tight End Ryan Bay.

Oregon was on the move as CJ Verdell caught a pass from Justin Herbert taking it in from 18 yards out. The Ducks built a 14-3 lead at the start of the second quarter.

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Jim Leavitt had the Oregon Defense ready again keeping Arizona State in 2nd/3rd and Long forcing another punt. The Ducks started the next series from their 35 yard line. Oregon crossed the 50 yard line before the Ducks fumbled the ball back to Arizona State. It was the first turnover of the game.

The Oregon Defense continued to pressure forcing a 30-yard field goal attempt to make it 14-6 Oregon after an Arizona State field goal. With 4:03 left in the first half, Oregon’s Justin Herbert found Dillon Mitchell for a 57-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6 over Arizona State. The Ducks Offense looked more in sync in the first half than they have the better part of the last three weeks which resulted in three losses in four games. It was clear the Offense and Defense came to play on Saturday night.

Arizona State scored off an interception thrown by Justin Herbert that was returned 50-yards. Manny Wilkins went to work quickly throwing one pass for a touchdown making it 21-13 Oregon. The Ducks added another touchdown before the end of the first half to make it 28-13 going into the locker room.

Third Down was the storyline for the first half. Oregon was 6 for 8 on third down conversions. The Ducks Defense held Arizona State to just 1 for 7 in the first 30 minutes of play.

Midway through the third quarter, Arizona State and Manny Wilkins found momentum to the Oregon 20 yard line. Eno Benjamin picked up 3 yards to give him 100 on the night for ASU. The Ducks Defense again held ASU to make it third down. The Sundevils kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 28-16 Oregon with 3:38 left in the third quarter.

From that point, things unraveled for the Ducks. Arizona State scored twice more, but the Ducks managed a field goal. With just over three minutes left it was 31-29 Oregon as ASU attempted and missed a two-point conversion attempt. The Sundevils had one more chance, but a the Oregon Defense forced a fumble allowing Justin Herbert to run out the clock and preserve the two point win over Aizona State. On Senior Day, it was the Senior Class that stepped up to make a difference in the game to notch their seventh win of the season.

Oregon Football will look for a road victory on Friday at Oregon State. Kickoff for the Civil War is set for 1pm Pacific Time on Fox Sports 1.

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