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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 BAKER CITY HERALD — 7A OREGON STATE FOOTBALL Beavers nip Sun Devils, Ducks defense dominant eye bowl bid OREGON FOOTBALL in 34-6 win over Arizona ■ Oregon wins its 9th consecutive game and clinches the Pac-12 North title By Anne M. Peterson AP Sports Writer EUGENE — In securing a spot in the Pac-12 title game, Justin Herbert marveled at how far Oregon had come since his freshman year. Herbert threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns and No. 6 Oregon won its ninth straight game and clinched the Pac-12 North with a 34-6 victory over Ari- zona on Saturday night. The senior quarterback recalled 2016, when Oregon fi nished last in the division. “It’s really cool, it’s some- thing that — the 4-and-8 season we didn’t see coming — so it’s a sign of all the hard work that we’ve put in, and it’s a great opportunity for us,” Herbert said. Graduate transfer Juwan Johnson caught fi ve passes for 93 yards and a score for the Ducks (9-1, 7-0 Pac-12). Oregon hasn’t won seven straight in conference play to start a season since 2012, and no Pac-12 team has started 7-0 in league play since Stan- ford in 2015. The Ducks, ranked sixth in both the College Football Playoff rankings and the AP Top 25, haven’t dropped a game since the season-open- ing loss to Auburn. With the victory, Oregon wrapped up the berth in the Andy Nelson / The (Eugene) Register-Guard-TNS Oregon running back Travis Dye races past Arizona cornerback Lorenzo Burns for a touchdown to give the Ducks a 34-6 lead over Arizona early in the fourth quarter at Autzen Stadium. conference championship game on Dec. 6 in Santa Clara, California. The Ducks’ opponent from the league’s South Division has yet to be determined. “The best part about it is our guys still feel like we haven’t played our best foot- ball,” coach Mario Cristobal said. The loss slimmed Arizona’s chances of bowl eligibility. At 4-6 overall and 2-5 in confer- ence, the Wildcats face No. 8 Utah (No. 7 CFP rankings) next Saturday before closing out the season at rival Ari- zona State. J.J. Taylor had 17 carries for 74 yards and caught six passes for 55 yards for the Wildcats. Both teams were coming off byes. Arizona started freshman Grant Gunnell. Head coach Kevin Sumlin said this week that practice performance would determine whether Gunnell or Khalil Tate would start. Gunnell completed four of six passes for 28 yards. Tate, who had started eight of Arizona’s previous nine games, started the second quarter and played until Gunnell replaced him with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Oregon scored on its second play from scrimmage on Herbert’s 73-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson III, the longest passing play for the Ducks this season. Or- egon extended the lead before the end of the fi rst quarter on Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s 1-yard scoring run. “The second play of the game you give up a home run, and a crowd like this, just revved it up even more,” Sum- lin said. “And playing from behind early in this game, and the inexperience of really our backup offensive line, put even more pressure on guys against a team that is No. 6 in the country.” Herbert completed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson on a reverse fl ea fl icker to put Oregon up 21-0. The game got chippy in the opening half with Oregon cornerback Thomas Graham and Arizona wide receiver Drew Dixon appearing to exchange punches, earning offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties. Lucas Havrisik kicked a pair of fi eld goals from 23 and 42-yards out to narrow the gap and Oregon led 21-6 at halftime. Spencer Webb evaded Ari- zona linebacker Tony Fields II to pull down Herbert’s 24-yard back shoulder pass midway through the third quarter. It was Herbert’s 100th career touchdown for the Ducks. He also surpassed 10,000 yards of total offense in the quarter. See Ducks/Page 8A ■ Oregon State needs to win one of its final two games to qualify for a bowl By Gary Horowitz Associated Press CORVALLIS — For as much growth as Oregon State has displayed in year two of the Jonathan Smith era, a signature home victory had eluded the Beavers. That is no longer the case. Jake Luton, one of 16 players honored during pregame festivities on senior day, passed for 288 yards and four touchdowns, leading Oregon State to a 35-34 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night. “Senior day to come out here and get a win, “Honestly, we just kept on feeling really good fi ghting. We fi nished it and right now,” Luton said. there’s nothing else to say. Oregon State’s We did what we had to do.” defense came up with two second-half turn- — Hamilcar Rashed Jr., overs, and a key stop Oregon State linebacker on a 2-point conver- sion attempt to help preserve the win. The Beavers (5-5, 4-3 Pac-12), who won just two games last season, are one victory away from becom- ing bowl eligible for the fi rst time since 2013. Arizona State (5-5, 2-5) lost its fourth consecutive game after a promising start. “Honestly, we just kept on fi ghting,” said OSU line- backer Hamilcar Rashed Jr., who had two sacks and four tackles for loss. “We fi nished it and there’s nothing else to say. We did what we had to do.” The outcome was in doubt until the fi nal seconds. On fourth-and-8 from the Beavers 12-yard line with less than two minutes left, ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels delivered a strike over the middle to Brandon Aiyuk for a touchdown. The Sun Devils elected to go for the 2-point conver- sion but running back Eno Benjamin had nowhere to go on a pitch left and his desperation heave into the end zone was intercepted by cornerback Nahshon Wright. OSU recovered the ensuing onside kick and ASU never got the ball back. “We’re playing to win,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said of going for two. On fourth-and-2 from ASU’s 44 with 42 seconds left, Luton’s pass intended for Trevon Bradford was incomplete, but cornerback Jack Jones was called for pass interference to give the Beavers a fi rst down to seal the win. After a slow start, Daniels completed 24 of 36 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. He missed the Sun Devils’ previous game against USC with a knee injury. “I felt good. I wasn’t really thinking about my knee,” said Daniels, a true freshman. “I just wanted to win.” Aiyuk had 10 catches for 173 yards and a score. The Sun Devils had 408 total yards of offense com- pared to 393 for the Beavers, who defeated ASU for the fi rst time since 2014. Luton completed 26 of 35 passes with no turnovers. He did his best work in the fi rst half, connecting on 15 of 18 for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Fans celebrated with players on the fi eld after the game. “I ran over to the family section, we were gonna like sing the fi ght song,” Luton said. “I turned around and saw the huge pile and ran back out there and celebrat- ed with everyone. It was a lot of fun.” It’s been a long time coming. The Beavers last Pac-12 home win came against Oregon in the 2016 Civil War. Smith, in his second season, inherited a team that was 1-11 in 2017. “It starts with the players and then choosing to go to work and believe,” said Smith, who was the starting quarterback on OSU’s Fiesta Bowl team of 2000. ASU was in position to score the game-tying touch- down with 10 minutes left, but Benjamin fumbled at the 1 after a hit by safety David Morris. The ball was recovered in the end zone by safety Jalen Moore for a touchback. Tight end Noah Togiai’s 12-yard touchdown recep- tion, which featured a highlight-reel leap over Jones at the 5, extended the Beavers’ lead to 35-21 at 4:14 of the third quarter. He had his best game of the season with a team-high eight receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown. “I just went out and played the same as I always do,” Togiai said. “I just got a little more opportunity to make plays and Jake was feeding me the ball.” The score was set up by defensive end Simon Sandberg’s strip sack of Daniels, whose fumble was recovered by linebacker Riley Sharp at the Sun Devils’ 28-yard line. Back came the Sun Devils. A 56-yard pass to Aiyuk, who got behind OSU’s secondary, led to an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams, cutting the lead to 35-28 at 2:19 of the third quarter. Artavis Pierce fumbled the ball away after a hit by defensive end Roe Wilkins on the ensuing possession — the Beavers’ fi rst lost fumble of the season — and ASU took over on OSU’s 41. But the Beavers’ defense stepped up. Linebacker Omar Speights’ 13-yard sack of Daniels on third-and- long forced a punt. After not scoring an offensive touchdown in last week’s 19-7 loss to Washington, OSU took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards on eight plays, culminated by Luton’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Jesiah Irish.
