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Oregon Ducks @ Arizona State Sun Devils Football Recap

Oregon 42, Arizona State 31

Say this for the Oregon Ducks: In success or failure, they don't waste their time at all. They make their opponents spin their wheels instead.

Yes, the Ducks and coach Chip Kelly are really focused on speed and efficiency, albeit sometimes to their detriment. Yet, they were able to make their "Quick Quack Attack" successful on a hot Saturday night in the Desert Southwest. In a game where kickoff temperatures hovered near 100 degrees, Oregon managed to beat the heat and get out of Tempe, Arizona, with a hard-earned and singularly weird 11-point triumph over Coach Dennis Erickson's eternally frustrated Sun Devils. Arizona State carried the play for much of this game but - in true Sun Devil fashion - imploded precisely when it could not afford to.

Want to know more about the "Quick Quack Attack"? Oregon - now four full games into its season - has cranked out a number of mind-boggling statistics, and a few of them emerged in Saturday night's game at Sun Devil Stadium. For one thing, Oregon has had only three possessions in the entire season (let that sink in for a bit... the ENTIRE SEASON) in which it has held the ball for more than four minutes. That's really rather remarkable. Against Arizona State, the Ducks either struck with lightning-quick ruthlessness, or they gave up the ball in rapid-fire fashion. Consider this: Oregon had 16 possessions on Saturday, and only one of those possessions exceeded two minutes and six seconds in length.

Ridiculous. But effective.

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Oregon rolled up 42 points - more than what it would ultimately need - before the third quarter came to an end. Quarterback Darron Thomas threw for 260 yards while coughing up just one interception, and running back LaMichael James dashed for 114 yards, 40 of them on a touchdown gallop that fueled UO's 28-point first half. In the third quarter, with Oregon clinging to an uneasy 28-24 lead, Thomas threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to receiver Josh Huff to cement Oregon's advantage. This offense found big plays when it needed them through the first three stanzas. Yet, for all that Oregon achieved on offense - 405 yards worth - it was the other side of the ball that told the tale in Tempe.

Arizona State - the well-known "almost" program of the Pac-10 - lived down to its billing on Saturday. ASU's offense piled up 597 yards against Oregon's defense, and Sun Devil quarterback Steven Threet often looked like a world-beater. The only problem was that the transfer from Michigan beat himself as well. Time and again, ASU marched downfield against the Ducks, but Threet threw two fourth-quarter interceptions deep in Oregon territory to salt away the win for the visitors from Eugene. Threet made casual throws and forced the ball into double coverage instead of maintaining the easy smoothness that characterized a majority of Sun Devil drives. Threet simply lost focus on far too many occasions, squandering his noticeable playmaking prowess. Threet finished with 387 passing yards and three touchdowns; the only problem was that he tossed four interceptions on a night when ASU lost the ball seven times. What's even more painful to contemplate for Erickson and the rest of his coaching staff is that those turnovers so frequently bit his team in the backside.

One of ASU's three lost fumbles came at the Oregon 2 on the first drive of the third quarter, in a game Oregon led by only four points (28-24). Another Devil fumble was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by UO's Boseko Lokombo, who rumbled 32 yards to give the Ducks their final touchdown of the evening. One of Threet's four picks was returned for a touchdown by Oregon's John Boyett. The 39-yard pick-six only added to the Devils' misery on a night when they repeatedly exploited the Oregon secondary. The simple inability to finish drives is what killed Arizona State in yet another frustrating loss for one of the Pac-10's most underachieving programs.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer