It’s not often a team racks up 400 yards of total offense and is still outgained by almost 200 yards.
It’s even more rare when that same team wins.
The No. 5 Oregon Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10) escaped Tempe Saturday with a 42-31 win over ASU after forcing seven turnovers resulting in two touchdown returns.
The first came midway through the first quarter with the scored tied 7-7 when UO sophomore safety John Boyett jumped a Steven Threet pass and returned it 39 yards to the end zone.
“Coaches called a great call for that situation,” Boyett said. “They had me playing deep and let me read the quarterback, and I was able to break on the ball and make a play.”
After the Sun Devils (2-2, 0-1) scored the next 17 points to regain the lead, UO sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas led two straight touchdown drives in one minute and 33 seconds to end the first half.
“That was a momentum swing, we got even and got back up, [just] like against Tennessee,” UO coach Chip Kelly said. “We kind of weathered the storm.”
Even with the lead at the break, the Ducks were dominated in time of possession, only controlling the ball for eight minutes and 54 seconds.
“We had to get bodies on people, we let too many guys run around and go wherever they want, but we cracked down on it [in the second half],” UO senior linebacker Casey Matthews said. “[Threet] really got us with those easy throws, so in the second half we wanted to get more hands on him, and eventually force bad throws.”
And bad throws they forced.
With five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Threet threw a lateral pass to sophomore running back Cameron Marshall that was ruled a fumble.
UO redshirt freshman Boseko Lokombo played the role of Johnny on the spot and scooped up the ball and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.
“He finished,” Matthews said. “A lot of people stopped and thought it was a forward pass but he picked up and ran it.”
As ASU tried to make a late comeback, the Sun Devils’ final three possessions of the game ended with Threet interceptions.
“I hadn’t seen Threet in person before; he’s a heck of a player,” Kelly said, impressed with Threet’s 387-yard performance. “He’s obviously a talented kid. He’s going to be in a group of really good quarterbacks in this league.”
Despite the win, UO’s high octane and top ranked offense was stymied for the better part of the game.
“It felt like they were everywhere,” sophomore running back LaMichael James said. “Everywhere I went, they were there. They had a great scheme for what we were doing. Anytime you have three linebackers wearing single digit numbers, you know they’re going to be fast.”
The Heisman Trophy candidate summed up his night with a laugh.
“I had over 100 yards?” James joked. “I didn’t even know. It felt more like 100 carries. They kept coming, but like I tell coach, I’m going to keep getting up.”
With next week’s showdown against undefeated No. 9 Stanford looming, the Ducks are happy to get out of the desert still perfect.
“They’ve got some tools where they are going to be really good this year and next,” Matthews said. “Anytime you get a win on the road in the Pac-10, you’ve got to be happy, but we’ve got some mistakes we can learn from.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
