Oct. 28, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - An amazing comeback, a disastrous fumble and an unexpected play call that fizzled capped an afternoon of high drama and heartbreak at Sun Devil Stadium.
In a game as wild as college football gets, Joey Harrington threw for 434 yards and tied a school record with six touchdown passes as No. 7 Oregon beat Arizona State 56-55 in two overtimes Saturday.
"I'm just speechless and in total shock right now," Harrington said. "We're going home with an empty tank. We left everything - physically and emotionally - on the field."
The Ducks (7-1, 5-0 Pac-10) never led in regulation, but Harrington threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final 3:21 of the fourth quarter, the last with 27 seconds to go.
"They battled, never gave up," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said of his players. "They believed, no matter what the scoreboard said or how much time was left on the clock, we felt we had a chance to win. That is the mark of a winner."
Allan Amundson, playing in place of injured Maurice Morris, ran 1 yard for the Ducks' touchdown on their second overtime possession.
Arizona State (5-3, 2-3) followed with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Krohn to Richard Williams. The Sun Devils set up for a conversion kick that would have tied it again, but it was a fake.
Krohn, who threw for 432 yards and five touchdowns, rolled right and threw to Todd Heap, but the tight end couldn't quite come up with one of his trademark spectacular catches.
"This definitely was the toughest loss I've ever had to take," Arizona State linebacker Adam Archuleta said.
Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said he went for the fake because kicker Mike Barth's sore back had worsened as the game went on. Snyder also said he was concerned that his injury-depleted secondary would be able to stop Oregon.
"I thought about it through the course of the week actually because we had been working on that play," Snyder said. "I thought I'd give it a shot right there, and it didn't work out, so that's totally on me. ... It's just heartbreaking that we couldn't come away with the victory."
Krohn blamed himself for the play's failure.
"I just didn't get it there," Krohn said. "I just didn't get it done."
Arizona State rolled up 667 yards against an Oregon defense that entered the game leading the Pac-10 and ranked 10th nationally. According to records dating to 1976, it was the most yards given up by the Ducks.
At 7-1, Oregon is off to its best start since 1959 and stayed in front in the race to the Rose Bowl.
The Sun Devils seemed to have sealed the victory when safety Willie Daniel tackled Oregon tight end Justin Peelle at the 1 on a pass play on fourth-and-goal from the 9 with 1:22 to play.
Arizona State tried to run out the clock, but Mike Williams, who had scored on a 59-yard run to put the Sun Devils up 49-35 with 5:47 remaining in regulation, fumbled and Oregon's Jermaine Hanspard recovered at the Arizona State 17.
On the next play, Harrington threw to Peelle for the touchdown to tie it at 49 with 27 seconds to go.
Tom Pace, an Arizona State walk-on who works part-time cleaning swimming pools, gained 158 yards on 33 carries and caught a 69-yard scoring pass in his first collegiate start. Oregon's Marshaun Tucker caught 11 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns.
Harrington completed 26 of 43 passes, and Krohn was 21-for-34.
Oregon gained 565 yards.
It was a crazy end to a tough trip for the Ducks, who sat on the airport runway in Eugene for 2 1/2 hours Friday night because of bad weather in Phoenix. The team didn't get into its hotel until 1 a.m., and had to get up at 7 a.m. for the 12:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Ducks rallied to tie four times.
Arizona State broke a 28-28 tie when, on third-and-inches from the Oregon 2, Krohn tossed a touchdown pass to fullback Stephen Trejo, his first career score, to make it 35-28 with 14:38 to play.
Moments later, on third-and-14, Krohn connected with a wide-open Richard Williams, who outran the defenders on a 90-yard touchdown play that make it 42-28 with 11:52 to go. It was the fifth-longest pass play ever for the Sun Devils, and Arizona State's longest in 15 years.
Harrington's 32-yard touchdown pass to Tucker cut the lead to 49-42 with 3:18 to play, but Arizona State recovered the onside kick attempt.
The Ducks held, though, and drove down the field only to have Peelle stopped at the 1.
Harrington fumbled twice in the second quarter when he was hit by Archuleta as he went back to pass. The second fumble came in the end zone, and Eric Fields recovered for a Sun Devils' touchdown to put Arizona State ahead 21-7 with 6:56 left in the half.
While the Ducks lost Morris with bruised ribs, Arizona State also had injury problems.
The Sun Devils sorely missed cornerback Kenny Williams, who went out with a sprained knee on Harrington's 5-yard touchdown pass to Tucker that tied it at 21 with 21 seconds left in the first half.
Harrington's six touchdown passes tied the school record set by Danny O'Neill against Washington State in Oregon's Rose Bowl season of 1994.
On the first overtime possession, the Ducks' Steve Smith intercepted Krohn's pass, but Oregon's Josh Frankel missed a 42-yard field-goal try.
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer