For Oregon, the dream of reaching the College Football Playoff in Mario Cristobal’s second year as head coach is all but over.
After enduring roughly three and a half quarters in which the 6th-ranked Ducks largely failed to find traction against an opponent riding a four-game losing streak, an unlikely late fourth quarter comeback fell just short of saving Oregon’s playoff hopes, as the Ducks fell to unranked Arizona State, 31-28, inside Sun Devil Stadium.
An early 7-0 lead for Oregon in the first quarter was countered by a 24-0 Arizona State avalanche that was fueled in large part by ASU true freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who proved Saturday night in front of a national television audience that he is a bona fide rising star both on the Pac-12 and national scene.
With the ultimate goal of clinching a berth in the College Football Playoff and a shot at a national championship now effectively out of reach, the Ducks must quickly regroup and find a way to end the regular season on a high note with a feisty Oregon State team headed to Eugene next Saturday. Before we turn the page, however, WFOD examines the major sticking points in the aftermath of Oregon’s gut-wrenching loss to Arizona State.
1. This was one of Justin Herbert’s flattest performances as a Duck
The final stat line for Oregon’s Justin Herbert will show that he completed 20-of-36 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns (plus two interceptions), but it won’t really tell the whole story of how truly uneven his performance was Saturday night in a critical spot. Though he showed commendable resolve in helping Oregon claw back from a 24-7 deficit midway through the fourth quarter, Herbert was frustratingly pedestrian to that point in the contest. Despite the success of Oregon’s rushing attack throughout the game, Herbert all too often failed to provide the offense with the balance it needed through the air, as inaccurate throws and turnovers (including his two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter) contributed to the Ducks’ undoing in the desert.
Stretches of underwhelming play have been part of Herbert’s story this season, as most games this season have featured varying degrees of erratic play from the talented senior signal-caller. Limiting turnovers on offense, however, has been a hallmark of this team in 2019, and Herbert had been a shining example of those efforts. Yet, for the first time this season, Herbert’s mistakes ultimately proved to hamstring Oregon’s chances of earning the win. There is no doubt that Herbert will go down as one of the most talented quarterbacks to ever play at Oregon, but puzzling performances like the one Saturday night vs. the Sun Devils demonstrate that his legacy at Oregon won’t be without some glaring imperfections compared to immortal names like Marcus Mariota, Joey Harrington, or even Darron Thomas.
2. Big plays surrendered by Oregon defense leave unit with soul-searching to do
Justin Herbert wasn’t the only old standby that went missing in action for the Ducks on Saturday. After carrying the mantle for this team for much of the season, the Oregon defense was exposed in a significant way against an Arizona State team that gained a season-high 535 yards of total offense. The catalyst for the Sun Devils on offense was Daniels, who played hands down the best game of his young career, completing 22-of-32 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns, shredding an Oregon defense that ranked second in the Pac-12 in passing defense (205.2 yards/game) entering the day.
Daniels’ favorite targets Saturday night were Brandon Aiyuk and Frank Darby, who combined to abuse Oregon’s defensive backs to the tune of 286 yards and three touchdowns, seemingly coming up with big plays whenever ASU needed them the most. No play better exemplified this notion than the 81-yard scoring strike from Daniels to Aiyuk on 3rd and 16 that effectively put the game out of reach for the Ducks as they were on the verge of sprinting past the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter. Limiting big plays had been one of the major strengths for the Oregon defense entering the weekend, as the Ducks surrendered just two plays of 40 yards or more in the previous 10 games. That number has now tripled, as the Ducks gave up four plays of 40 yards or more against the Sun Devils.
3. Johnny Johnson enjoys a career day
Though Saturday’s individual performance by Johnny Johnson won’t carry the same kind of weight had it come in a win, it was remarkable nonetheless to see the Phoenix-area native almost single-handedly bring the Ducks back from a harrowing 17-point deficit. With Mycah Pittman set to miss the rest of the regular season due to injury and with Jaylon Redd a late scratch due to an injury of his own, Johnny Johnson emerged as the go-to target for Herbert in the passing game after Juwan Johnson (no relation) had ascended to that role in recent weeks. Of the 10 receptions for 207 yards that Johnson finished the game with, seven of those receptions and 146 of those yards (plus his two touchdowns) came in the fourth quarter alone. Oregon may be thin at receiver these days, but Johnny Johnson proved once and for all Saturday that his sophomore season plagued by drops is a thing of the past.
4. The Oregon ground game bounces back with a strong outing
It won’t necessarily go down as a dominating effort, but the Oregon rushing attack held up its end of the bargain for the most part as the rest of the offense tried to find its groove for the better part of three and a half quarters. CJ Verdell would pace the Ducks with 99 yards on 18 carries, though, in what has become a disturbing trend this season, the sophomore would leave the game in the second half with an injury that prevented him from returning to action. In his stead, Travis Dye and Cyrus Habibi-Likio helped pick up the slack, as the two combined for 73 yards and two touchdowns. The loss will be all that anyone on the Oregon side remembers from this game, but the Ducks’ performance on the ground against the Pac-12’s third-best rushing defense shouldn’t be overlooked.
5. With Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes dashed, it’s now Rose Bowl or bust
As mentioned in the opening portion of this piece, the dream is now all but over as it pertains to Oregon’s hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff. To earn a berth, the Ducks needed to win out in the regular season and win the Pac-12 Championship Game in order to secure their place in the final four. However, with that goal – for all intents and purposes – off the table, that doesn’t mean that all hope for a special end to the season has been lost.
The Ducks have already clinched the Pac-12 North division title and punched their ticket to Santa Clara, where they will likely face Utah for a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Given the mixed bag that was Mario Cristobal’s first year on the job in 2018, if you would have told any Duck fan prior to the start of the 2019 season that they would have a spot in the Pac-12 Championship locked up with a Rose Bowl berth on the line prior to Thanksgiving, they would have likely accepted those terms without batting an eye. The road to Pasadena is certainly perilous, as Oregon hosts a vastly improved Oregon State team seeking bowl eligibility next week, while Utah has plans of their own to win the Pac-12 title and land in the College Football Playoff, but it’s all right there for the taking for the Ducks.
Items of note:
- The Ducks committed just three penalties for a season-low 12 yards vs. ASU
- Johnny Johnson set career-highs with 207 receiving yards, 10 catches and two touchdowns. It stands as the seventh-most receiving yards in a game in school history and just the ninth 200-yard receiving game in school history. Johnson is the third Oregon receiver to surpass the 100-yard mark this year.
- Justin Herbert became just the second Oregon quarterback to reach 10,000 career passing yards after throwing for 304, giving him 10,036
Top Photo: Oregon WR Johnny Johnson (Oregon Athletics)