CORVALLIS, Ore. – A failed two-point conversion proved to be the difference in Sun Devil football's comeback bid at Oregon State on Saturday night in Corvallis, Ore., with the Beavers coming out on top, 35-34.
ASU rallied from two touchdowns down late in the game, cutting the game to one point with under two minutes left. The Devils elected to go for two but the conversion attempt was unsuccessful and ASU would inevitably come just shy of completing the comeback.
The loss dampened an incredible day from senior wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who finished with 173 receiving yards on 10 catches with a touchdown reception and also logging a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown in the contest. He finished with a career-high 293 all-purpose yards – the fifth-most in a single game in Sun Devil history.
Jayden Daniels threw for 334 yards, his fourth career game with 300+ passing yards, on 24-of-36 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Eno Benjamin added 70 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown.
Khaylan Kearse-Thomas had his best game as a Sun Devil defensively, recording 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack in the effort. Roe Wilkins was especially solid in his first career start at ASU, recording five tackles – two for loss – with a sack and a fumble forced.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing by a touchdown, the Sun Devils drove 90 yards on 11 plays in the final quarter, keyed by a huge 44-yard catch on third down early in the drive by Aiyuk. Facing 4th-and-8 from the Oregon State 12-yard line with just under two minutes remaining, Daniels found Aiyuk at the two yard line and the senior stretched the ball across the plane. The score brought ASU back within a point after trailing by two touchdowns with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Head coach Herm Edwards opted to go for two points but the broken play proved to be unsuccessful.
ASU was given a last-gasp effort with two timeouts remaining and 1:40 left on the clock after a failed onside kick. After forcing Oregon State into a fourth down situation with under a minute left, the Beavers elected to go for it and were rewarded with a pass interference call and an automatic first down to seal the game.
THE TURNING POINT
The Sun Devils looked primed to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, cruising 80 yards down the field on just five plays to get inside the Beaver 10-yard line with over 10 minutes remaining in the game. However, Eno Benjamin lost a fumble just shy of the goal line to keep it a one-touchdown game and that led to the late game theatrics that came just shy.
NOTABLES
First Quarter
The two squads came out firing in the first, with each team recording a pair of touchdowns in the opening frame. ASU recorded 134 total yards in the frame with Daniels going 6-for-11 for 83 yards with a touchdown while Eno Benjamin added his eighth rushing touchdown of the season. Daniels found Darby for a 24-yard touchdown reception to tie the game near end of the quarter, the ninth career touchdown for Darby of 20 or more yards (8 receiving, 1 rushing). Unfortunately, the Sun Devil secondary struggled, allowing OSU's Jake Luton to go 9-for-11 for 129 yards with two touchdowns.
Second Quarter
Oregon State drove 74 yards on 10 plays to open the second quarter and go back on top, 21-14 on Luton's third touchdown pass of the game. The Sun Devils rallied again behind an electric punt return from Brandon Aiyuk, who bobbed and weaved to the tune of a 63-yard touchdown – the first return touchdown of his career – to even things back up at 21-21. Again, however, the defense was unable to get a stop as OSU drove 72 yards on eight plays over the next three-plus minutes to retake a 28-21 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Third Quarter
After the explosive first half, defense reigned supreme for much of the early part of the third quarter with the teams combining to force five straight three-and-outs to start the frame. Oregon State finally broke through after taking advantage of an ASU fumble in its own territory and scoring five plays later to give the Beavers the largest lead of the game at 35-21. The Sun Devils wasted no time responding as Daniels found Aiyuk for 56-yard connection into Oregon State territory before connecting with Kyle Williams on an eight-yard touchdown reception to get back within a score. It was Williams' third touchdown reception in his career against the Beavers, recording one in each game. The Sun Devil defense got the break it needed when Roe Wilkins forced a fumble against Artavis Pierce that was recovered by Shannon Forman, the first lost fumble by the Beavers all season. Unfortunately, ASU was unable to capitalize any points on the turnover and it remained a seven-point game into the fourth quarter.
ASU rallied from two touchdowns down late in the game, cutting the game to one point with under two minutes left. The Devils elected to go for two but the conversion attempt was unsuccessful and ASU would inevitably come just shy of completing the comeback.
The loss dampened an incredible day from senior wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who finished with 173 receiving yards on 10 catches with a touchdown reception and also logging a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown in the contest. He finished with a career-high 293 all-purpose yards – the fifth-most in a single game in Sun Devil history.
Jayden Daniels threw for 334 yards, his fourth career game with 300+ passing yards, on 24-of-36 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Eno Benjamin added 70 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown.
Khaylan Kearse-Thomas had his best game as a Sun Devil defensively, recording 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack in the effort. Roe Wilkins was especially solid in his first career start at ASU, recording five tackles – two for loss – with a sack and a fumble forced.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing by a touchdown, the Sun Devils drove 90 yards on 11 plays in the final quarter, keyed by a huge 44-yard catch on third down early in the drive by Aiyuk. Facing 4th-and-8 from the Oregon State 12-yard line with just under two minutes remaining, Daniels found Aiyuk at the two yard line and the senior stretched the ball across the plane. The score brought ASU back within a point after trailing by two touchdowns with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Head coach Herm Edwards opted to go for two points but the broken play proved to be unsuccessful.
ASU was given a last-gasp effort with two timeouts remaining and 1:40 left on the clock after a failed onside kick. After forcing Oregon State into a fourth down situation with under a minute left, the Beavers elected to go for it and were rewarded with a pass interference call and an automatic first down to seal the game.
THE TURNING POINT
The Sun Devils looked primed to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, cruising 80 yards down the field on just five plays to get inside the Beaver 10-yard line with over 10 minutes remaining in the game. However, Eno Benjamin lost a fumble just shy of the goal line to keep it a one-touchdown game and that led to the late game theatrics that came just shy.
NOTABLES
- The Sun Devil defense was dominant once again in the fourth quarter. They did not allow a score in the final 15 minutes and have allowed just one fourth quarter touchdown over the past seven games (at Utah).
- Brandon Aiyuk finished the game with 173 receiving yards, the fifth 100-yard receiving performance of his career.
- Aiyuk collected 293 all-purpose yards - the fifth most in ASU single-game history. It was his seventh performance with 100+ all-purpose yards this season and 11th of his career. He entered the contest 9th nationally and first in the Pac-12 in all-purpose yards at 143.33 per game.
- Brandon Aiyuk's 63-yard punt return in the second quarter was the first punt return for a touchdown allowed by Oregon State since Washington's Dante Pettis took a punt 89-yards to the house back on November 21, 2015.
- Roe Wilkins' forced fumble and Shannon Forman's fumble recovery in the third quarter represents the first lost fumble by the Beavers all season. Oregon State came into the game having committed only three turnovers in nine games.
- By finishing with 70 rushing yards in today's game, Eno Benjamin now has 2,585 in his career. He moves with 33 yards of Darryl Harris (2,617 yards from 1984-87), who is in 12th place on ASU's all-time career rushing yards list.
- Kyle Williams made 3 catches, giving him at least one catch in 38 consecutive games. He moves into sole possession of fourth-place in ASU history in consecutive games with a reception (passing N'Keal Harry's 37). The streak is currently the fourth-longest active in the FBS.
- Kyle Williams caught a touchdown against Oregon State for the third consecutive season.
- Frank Darby hauled in a 24-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, his fifth touchdown catch over the past three games. Prior to that, Darby had caught five receiving touchdowns in 30 career games.
- With Kejuan Markham getting his first career start, eight true freshmen have started a game for ASU, the second-highest total in the nation behind Alabama (9).
First Quarter
The two squads came out firing in the first, with each team recording a pair of touchdowns in the opening frame. ASU recorded 134 total yards in the frame with Daniels going 6-for-11 for 83 yards with a touchdown while Eno Benjamin added his eighth rushing touchdown of the season. Daniels found Darby for a 24-yard touchdown reception to tie the game near end of the quarter, the ninth career touchdown for Darby of 20 or more yards (8 receiving, 1 rushing). Unfortunately, the Sun Devil secondary struggled, allowing OSU's Jake Luton to go 9-for-11 for 129 yards with two touchdowns.
Second Quarter
Oregon State drove 74 yards on 10 plays to open the second quarter and go back on top, 21-14 on Luton's third touchdown pass of the game. The Sun Devils rallied again behind an electric punt return from Brandon Aiyuk, who bobbed and weaved to the tune of a 63-yard touchdown – the first return touchdown of his career – to even things back up at 21-21. Again, however, the defense was unable to get a stop as OSU drove 72 yards on eight plays over the next three-plus minutes to retake a 28-21 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Third Quarter
After the explosive first half, defense reigned supreme for much of the early part of the third quarter with the teams combining to force five straight three-and-outs to start the frame. Oregon State finally broke through after taking advantage of an ASU fumble in its own territory and scoring five plays later to give the Beavers the largest lead of the game at 35-21. The Sun Devils wasted no time responding as Daniels found Aiyuk for 56-yard connection into Oregon State territory before connecting with Kyle Williams on an eight-yard touchdown reception to get back within a score. It was Williams' third touchdown reception in his career against the Beavers, recording one in each game. The Sun Devil defense got the break it needed when Roe Wilkins forced a fumble against Artavis Pierce that was recovered by Shannon Forman, the first lost fumble by the Beavers all season. Unfortunately, ASU was unable to capitalize any points on the turnover and it remained a seven-point game into the fourth quarter.