No. 6 Arizona State 48, Oregon 27
September 28, 1996Sun Devil Stadium
Attendance: 54,618
Weather: 92 degrees, clear
An Oregon cornerback had mentioned earlier in the week that Arizona State was not going to run against the Duck defense, a comment that raised a few eyebrows in Tempe.
"We took it as a personal challenge," ASU head coach Bruce Snyder said of the comment. "We really went out to establish the run."
Thus, the Sun Devils proceeded to rack up 309 yards on the sod - including a career-high 161 from junior Michael Martin - in a 48-27 win over Pac-10 rival Oregon before 54,618 at Sun Devil Stadium.
The Sun Devils moved to 4-0, their first such start in 14 years. ASU also grabbed first place in the league with a 2-0 mark. Oregon fell to 3-2, 0-2 in conference play, losing their second Pac-10 road contest in as many weeks.
Although sloppy at times, ASU showed no signs of a letup from its upset win against Nebraska the previous week - scoring a touchdown on its first possession for the fourth straight week and never trailing in the game. But when a 21-point cushion suddenly became precarious, a defensive hero once again emerged.
Oregon trailed 34-20 in the fourth quarter, but had just scored a touchdown and was close to another. Shades of Washington? Hardly. On 1st-and-10 from the ASU 21, senior linebacker Derek Smith intercepted a Ryan Perry-Smith pass. Less than two minutes later, the Sun Devil lead was back up to three touchdowns.
"Even though we had the lead, the momentum was clearly starting to swing," Snyder said. "Smith's interception was terrific."
And timely. Just as it had done against Nebraska, the ASU defense forced a turnover when it needed to. Linebacker Pat Tillman also had an interception deep in ASU territory and recovered a fumble when the Ducks went for it on a fourth-and-six in Sun Devil territory.
"Pat is very athletic, very smart and recognizes what offensive people are trying to do to him," Snyder said. "He likes open spaces so he can interpret different routes."
But the ASU offense littered the highlight reels this week, with punishing runs and pinpoint passes that eventually added up to 591 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Jake Plummer turned in a near-flawless effort, completing 21 of 37 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns, matching his career high for scoring tosses. Plummer also helped the Sun Devil stay perfect in the red zone - 13 for 13 on the season with 10 touchdowns and three field goals.
Plummer found reserve tight end Kendrick Bates on fourth-and-one from the UO 1 on the game's first series, giving ASU a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, he fired two scoring strikes in a span of two minutes, hitting Lenzie Jackson on a 17-yard hook and finding a wide-open J.R. Redmond down the left sideline for 55 yards on ASU's next possession. That touchdown gave the Sun Devils a 24-7 lead.
After UO cut the lead to 27-13, ASU snagged its biggest lead of the day on a 21-yard touchdown jaunt by Terry Battle, one of two for the junior tailback on the day.
"Terry had a quiet first three games, but in this one he was louder," Snyder said.
But the Ducks fought back, scoring on a 12-yard pass from Perry-Smith to tight end Blake Spence to cut the lead to 34-20. Oregon marched right down the field on its next drive, advancing to the ASU 21 before Smith's interception.
Two plays later, wideout Keith Poole went reverse left for 50 yards, all the way to the Duck eight-yard line. Poole was rewarded two plays later with a six-yard scoring strike from Plummer. The Sun Devil lead was back up to 21.
Overshadowed by the long scoring plays on both sides was a methodical performance by Martin, who earned the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. Martin didn't hit the end zone, but averaged a whopping 6.4 yards a carry.
"Michael Martin is a load," Snyder said. "When he's running, he really punishes defenses."
And not only did the Sun Devils pound the ball on the ground, they prevented the Ducks from doing the same. Oregon only managed 63 yards on the ground, forcing Perry-Smith to take to the air for most of the second half.
"The heart of a football team is the running game and defending the run," Snyder said. "If you can do that, then you can branch out and do other things."
Game Notes- ASU moved to 4-0 for the first time since 1982.
- Jake Plummer moved past Jeff Van Raaphorst into first place on the Sun Devils' all-time completion list.
- Jake Plummer tied a career-high with four touchdown passes
- Michael Martin's 163-yard effort was the first 100-plus game of his career.
- ASU inched to fifth in the AP Poll and moved from 12th to seventh in the USA Today/CNN Coaches' Poll.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Oregon | 7 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
| Arizona State | 10 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 48 |
| Scoring |
| First Quarter |
| ASU- Kendrick Bates 1-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 9 plays, 56 yards, 2:58 |
| ASU- Robert Nycz 37-yard field goal. Drive: 14 plays, 78 yards, 4:27 |
| UO- Damon Griffin 66-yard pass from Ryan Perry-Smith (Smith kick) Drive: 3 plays, 63 yards, 0:56 |
| Second Quarter |
| ASU- Lenzie Jackson 17-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 5 plays, 67 yards, 1:38 |
| ASU- J.R. Redmond 55-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 2 plays, 65 yards, 0:17 |
| UO- Joshua Smith 32-yard field goal. Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 3:49 |
| ASU- Robert Nycz 20-yard field goal. Drive: 14 plays, 74 yards, 3:43 |
| Third Quarter |
| UO- Joshua Smith 20-yard field goal. Drive: 7 plays, 58 yards, 2:02 |
| ASU- Terry Battle 21-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 5 plays, 52 yards, 2:01 |
| Fourth Quarter |
| UO- Blake Spence 12-yard pass from Ryan Perry-Smith (Smith kick) Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 2:22 |
| ASU- Keith Poole 6-yard pass from Jake Plummer (Nycz kick) Drive: 4 plays, 62 yards, 1:23 |
| UO- Damon Griffin 19-yard pass from Ryan Perry-Smith (Smith kick) Drive: 4 plays, 67 yards, 1:03 |
| ASU- Terry Battle 35-yard run (Nycz kick) Drive: 2 plays, 44 yards, 0:38 |
| Rushing | Att | Yards | Average | TD |
| Oregon | ||||
| Derien Latimer | 7 | 23 | 3.3 | |
| Eric Winn | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | |
| Jerry Brown | 5 | 7 | 1.4 | |
| Ryan Perry-Smith | 2 | -22 | -11.0 | |
| A.J. Jelks | 7 | 23 | 3.3 | |
| Kevin Parker | 7 | 22 | 3.1 | |
| Arizona State | ||||
| Michael Martin | 25 | 161 | 6.4 | |
| Jeff Paulk | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | |
| Terry Battle | 9 | 83 | 9.2 | 2 |
| Jake Plummer | 6 | -11 | -1.8 | |
| J.R. Redmond | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | |
| Ricky Boyer | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | |
| Keith Poole | 1 | 50 | 50.0 |
| Passing | Comp | Att | Yards | Int | TD |
| Oregon | |||||
| Ryan Perry-Smith | 29 | 56 | 468 | 2 | 3 |
| Arizona State | |||||
| Jake Plummer | 21 | 37 | 282 | 4 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yards | TD |
| Oregon | |||
| Eric Winn | 1 | 12 | |
| Damon Griffin | 8 | 177 | 2 |
| Kevin Parker | 3 | 49 | |
| Josh Wilcox | 3 | 28 | |
| Dameron Ricketts | 2 | 22 | |
| Blake Spence | 3 | 54 | 1 |
| Jibri Hodge | 5 | 64 | |
| A.J. Jelks | 1 | 23 | |
| Tony Hartley | 2 | 29 | |
| Pat Johnson | 1 | 10 | |
| Arizona State | |||
| Lenzie Jackson | 3 | 45 | 1 |
| Kendrick Bates | 3 | 41 | 1 |
| Devin Kendall | 4 | 60 | |
| Terry Battle | 1 | 5 | |
| Ricky Boyer | 2 | 15 | |
| Michael Martin | 2 | 17 | |
| J.R. Redmond | 1 | 55 | 1 |
| Keith Poole | 2 | 17 | 1 |
| Jeff Paulk | 1 | 2 | |
| Isaiah Mustafa | 2 | 25 |
| UO | ASU | ||
| Total First Downs |
31 | 27 | |
| Third Down Efficiency | 6-17 (35%) | 7-17 (41%) | |
| Total Net Yards | 531 | 591 | |
| Total Offensive Plays | 87 | 86 | |
| Net Yards Rushing | 63 | 309 | |
| Total Yards Passing | 468 | 282 | |
| Punts- Number and Average | 6-48.5 | 7-46.4 | |
| Penalties- Number and Yards | 6-37 | 12-123 | |
| Fumbles- Number and Lost | 1-1 | 0-0 | |
| Time of Possession | 29:12 | 30:48 | |
| 1 | 5 | ||
| Ricky Boyer | 2 | 15 | |
| Michael Martin | 2 | 17 | |
| J.R. Redmond | 1 | 55 | 1 |
| Keith Poole | 2 | 17 | 1 |
| Jeff Paulk | 1 | 2 | |
| Isaiah Mustafa | 2 |