With its season on the brink the ASU football team failed to meet the urgency of the situation. The Sun Devils were pounded by Oregon, 54-20 on Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium.
The Sun Devils (2-5, 1-3 Pac-10) dropped their fifth straight game and were never in the contest against the Ducks.
Senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter threw interceptions on consecutive drives in the first quarter, as the ASU offense again failed to capitalize on turnovers created by its defense.
After UO scored the game’s first touchdown on a 43-yard run, senior running back Jeremiah Johnson fumbled on the team’s 8-yard line on their subsequent drive.
ASU senior linebacker Morris Wooten recovered it, giving the Sun Devils an opportunity to tie the game.
On third down, though, Carpenter’s pass intended for senior wide receiver Michael Jones was intercepted by UO junior cornerback Walter Thurmond III, as the Sun Devils continued a season-long trend of red-zone struggles.
Though the Sun Devil defense was able to come up with a few early turnovers, it had little success containing the Pac-10 Conference’s best running attack.
UO rushed for 304 yards, asserting its ground dominance early with 147 yards in the first quarter.
The Sun Devils lacked cohesiveness on offense throughout the game as turnovers, penalties and missed communication kept ASU off the scoreboard until the end of the first half.
Even after ASU scored their first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard rush by Carpenter, sophomore kicker Thomas Weber missed the extra point, a play that was a microcosm of the Sun Devils’ performance.
ASU’s ineffectiveness on offense was widespread.
Carpenter was sacked three times and completed 17 of 33 passes for 146 yards and two interceptions.
Senior running back Keegan Herring started his first game of the season but was held in check by the UO defense, as he gained just 15 yards on eight carries.
Junior running back Dimitri Nance provided a spark midway through the second quarter with an 18-yard rush, his longest of the season, but the junior fumbled on his first carry of the second half leading to a UO score that made the score, 30-6.
ASU’s most productive drive of the game came midway through the third quarter when Carpenter hit Jones for a 15-yard touchdown to end a 14-play, 80-yard march.
The score was of little significance, though, as UO scored 21 points in the third quarter to keep the game out of reach.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
