TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State football team punched its postseason ticket Saturday night, topping the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks, 31-28, in what was a game for the ages at Sun Devil Stadium.
The night was highlighted by big plays, many that came out of the hand of Jayden Daniels, who threw for a career-high 408 yards in the win. After holding the Ducks to just seven points through the first three-quarters of play, Oregon came roaring back to score back-to-back touchdowns and cut the Sun Devil lead to three, with just under six minutes to play.
"I thought we took the approach that it was going to be a heavy-weight fight," said Herm Edwards. "I said 'We have to be the physical group, and we're going to have to play these guys for four quarters. If we play tough and keep the mindset that we can't let them get out to an early lead, we'll have a chance.'' Obviously, at the end, they came surging back pretty fast. When you think you have a lead, and all of a sudden there are a couple of big plays in the passing game and they're knocking on our door again."
Looking to hold off the desperate Ducks, who had fought their way back to make it a three-point game with 5:24 left to play, Daniels found Brandon Aiyuk for an 81-yard touchdown that would stand as the game-winner.
With his heroic effort in Saturday's win, Daniels passed Rudy Carpenter for the most passing yards by a true freshman quarterback, and moved into 11th-place all-time in ASU single-season history with 2,644 yards through the air in 2019 with one game still to play.
Despite playing one of the most challenging secondaries in the Pac-12, the Sun Devil offense was able to make the most out of their potent passing game, highlighted by a pair of 100-yard efforts from both Aiyuk and Frank Darby, who combined to record 286 of the 408 yards through the air in Saturday's win.
"We knew that (Oregon's) corners were going to play us man-to-man, and the way we've worked all season we just felt like nobody could cover us one-on-one," Darby said. "I've been mentioning that since the beginning of the year. I was saying we could do it. So they tried to man us up and we got them on both sides."
On the ground, Eno Benjamin notched his 14th 100-yard rushing game of his career, tying Art Malone for fourth in school history. He sits at ninth place in ASU history with 2,699 yards, one yard behind Cameron Marshall for eighth all-time.
The night was highlighted by big plays, many that came out of the hand of Jayden Daniels, who threw for a career-high 408 yards in the win. After holding the Ducks to just seven points through the first three-quarters of play, Oregon came roaring back to score back-to-back touchdowns and cut the Sun Devil lead to three, with just under six minutes to play.
"I thought we took the approach that it was going to be a heavy-weight fight," said Herm Edwards. "I said 'We have to be the physical group, and we're going to have to play these guys for four quarters. If we play tough and keep the mindset that we can't let them get out to an early lead, we'll have a chance.'' Obviously, at the end, they came surging back pretty fast. When you think you have a lead, and all of a sudden there are a couple of big plays in the passing game and they're knocking on our door again."
Looking to hold off the desperate Ducks, who had fought their way back to make it a three-point game with 5:24 left to play, Daniels found Brandon Aiyuk for an 81-yard touchdown that would stand as the game-winner.
"These guys owed them something from last year," Daniels said of the game. "They took (ASU's) chances from the Pac-12 Championship, so we just came out there and played with a chip on their shoulders. Today we played a complete game as a team and showed what we could do."5?? + 2?? = 6?? pic.twitter.com/IluQYQKPNE
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) November 24, 2019
With his heroic effort in Saturday's win, Daniels passed Rudy Carpenter for the most passing yards by a true freshman quarterback, and moved into 11th-place all-time in ASU single-season history with 2,644 yards through the air in 2019 with one game still to play.
Despite playing one of the most challenging secondaries in the Pac-12, the Sun Devil offense was able to make the most out of their potent passing game, highlighted by a pair of 100-yard efforts from both Aiyuk and Frank Darby, who combined to record 286 of the 408 yards through the air in Saturday's win.
"We knew that (Oregon's) corners were going to play us man-to-man, and the way we've worked all season we just felt like nobody could cover us one-on-one," Darby said. "I've been mentioning that since the beginning of the year. I was saying we could do it. So they tried to man us up and we got them on both sides."
The duo both eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in the upset win, becoming the third and fourth active Sun Devils to hit 1,000 career receiving yards. Darby has also now scored in four-straight games and has accounted for two touchdowns in three of those contests.you can only hope to contain him ??
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) November 24, 2019
that's 7?? touchdowns in 4?? games for @_SavageSZN8 pic.twitter.com/GQtz5PinMw
On the ground, Eno Benjamin notched his 14th 100-yard rushing game of his career, tying Art Malone for fourth in school history. He sits at ninth place in ASU history with 2,699 yards, one yard behind Cameron Marshall for eighth all-time.
The Sun Devils will be back in action next weekend when the team hosts Arizona for the 92nd edition of the Territorial Cup, Saturday, Nov. 30. Kickoff in the regular-season finale is set for 8:00 p.m. MST, and will be broadcast on ESPN.upset views ?? pic.twitter.com/nplJneDVFP
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) November 24, 2019