6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019
OREGON STATE FOOTBALL
Heartbreak on
the Palouse:
Ducks’ playoff dreams die in Beavers fall in
final
seconds
the desert with loss to ASU
OREGON FOOTBALL
■ Oregon nearly rallies in the fourth quarter, but a late touchdown pass seals game
By Jose M. Romero
Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. — Jayden
Daniels’ big night on a prime-
time national stage helped
Arizona State stun No. 6
Oregon 31-28 Saturday night,
giving the Sun Devils their
biggest victory of the season.
Daniels, a true freshman,
completed 22 of 32 passes for
408 yards and three touch-
downs and Arizona State
intercepted two of Justin
Herbert’s passes in the fourth
quarter.
Arizona State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-
12) ended Oregon’s College
Football Playoff hopes and its
nine-game winning streak.
The Sun Devils snapped a
four-game losing streak with
their fi rst victory over a top-
fi ve team since Oct. 14, 2017,
against then No. 5 Washing-
ton.
Oregon (9-2, 7-1) has
clinched the Pac-12 North
title and a place in the confer-
ence championship game. But
the Ducks’ best-case scenario
is likely the Rose Bowl.
“There’s lot of goals that go
into a season. One of them
was to have ourselves in a
situation coming into this
game to be part of every con-
versation and every kind of
championship,” Oregon coach
Mario Cristobal said. “But
right now the only conversa-
tion that needs to take place
for us as a team is the most
logical one, that we get back
to our process of being 1-0.”
The Sun Devils held on
after Oregon scored three
touchdowns in a 6:38 span in
the wild fourth quarter.
The Ducks, down 24-7 with
8:42 to play, scored twice on
three-play drives. It took
them 59 seconds to make it
24-14 on Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s
touchdown run, then 43 sec-
onds to get Herbert’s scoring
pass to Johnny Johnson III.
Then, with Arizona State
facing third-and-16, Daniels
hit Brandon Aiyuk in stride
for an 81-yard touchdown
strike with 3:54 to play.
Sun Devils coach Herm
Edwards said play action
was the key to Daniels’ long
completions.
“We just felt that our
matchup with our receiv-
ers, that we had the ability
to beat them. We wanted
one-on-one matchups with
their corners and we go it,”
Edwards said.
Herbert and Johnson con-
nected again for a touchdown
with 2:04 left, but Arizona
State was able to run out the
clock.
Daniels found holes in the
secondary all night, hitting
Frank Darby for touchdown
passes of 57 and 26 yards.
Daniels had eight comple-
tions of 17 yards or more
as Arizona State scored 21
straight points after trailing
7-0 in the fi rst quarter.
Daniels completed his fi rst
12 passes of the game.
“Just trust, that is what we
wanted to do,” Daniels said.
“That is the skill set that we
have. Brandon, Frank, Eno
(Benjamin) and me.”
Aiyuk had seven catches
for 161 yards, Darby fi n-
ished with four catches for
125 yards and running back
Benjamin had 168 total
yards. Christian Zendejas
made three short fi eld goals,
including a 22-yard kick for a
17-point lead.
“I came out here with a
chip on my shoulder and I
know they all did, too,” Darby
said.
Herbert was 20 of 36 for
304 yards. C.J. Verdell rushed
for 99 yards on 18 carries and
Johnson had 10 catches for
207 yards.
Arizona State got the
game’s only two takeaways,
the fi rst an interception by
Jack Jones on the fi rst play
of the fourth quarter. Four
plays later, Daniels hit Darby
in the back of the end zone
for a 26-yard touchdown pass,
then found Benjamin for the
2-point conversion and a 21-7
lead.
“They hit some big plays
on us, some will be technique-
oriented, some will be just
them making a really good
throw and catch,” Cristobal
said. “Credit them for making
those plays.”
After throwing just one
interception in the fi rst eight
games of the season, Herbert,
once considered a Heisman
Trophy contender, has four in
his last three games.
“I made a bad decision and
the defense made a play,”
Herbert said. “We didn’t play
like we could.”
MIGHTY FALLS
Aiyuk said he was glad to
see Oregon in man-to-man
coverage. “They think they
are big bad mighty Oregon,
so I kind of had a feeling that
they were going to come out
and do what they do,” Aiyuk
said. “Last year we had them
talking to themselves. A lot
of big talkers. They didn’t say
too much today.”
CENTER SWITCH
Oregon had to turn to
starting right tackle Calvin
Throckmorton to play center
in the second half when Jake
Hanson suffered an undis-
closed injury. The Ducks’
experienced offensive line
held up fairly well, giving up
two sacks but paving the way
for 172 rushing yards.
The Ducks were also with-
out junior wide receiver Jay-
lon Redd, who was held out
due to injury, and freshman
sensation Mycah Pittman.
Redd has 42 catches for 396
yards and seven touchdowns.
THE TAKEAWAY
The Ducks will certainly
fall in the College Football
Playoff standings next week,
and Herbert was inconsistent
until the fi nal minutes, when
Oregon made a valiant come-
back but couldn’t complete it.
And a defense that had been
one of the Pac-12’s best this
season was torched for 535
total yards.
UP NEXT
Oregon hosts Oregon State
in the Civil War rivalry game
Saturday.
Arizona State hosts Arizo-
na in the Duel in the Desert
game Saturday night.
■ On the verge of clinching its first
bowl berth since 2013, Oregon State
squanders a fourth-quarter lead to
resilient Washington State
By Will Ferguson
Associated Press
PULLMAN, Wash. — Max Borghi predicted that
Washington State would beat Oregon State to become
bowl eligible. On Saturday night, Borghi made his
prediction come true with a 2-yard touchdown run with
2 seconds left to lift Washington State to a wild 54-53
victory.
The fi nal drive of the game came after the Washing-
ton State defense stopped Oregon State on a fourth-
and-6 with 1:10 left in the game. Anthony Gordon
then led Washington State on a 10-play, 58-yard drive,
capped by Borghi’s touchdown.
The win makes Washington State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12)
bowl eligible for the fi fth consecutive year.
“It was a really wild game. I was proud of our guys
for being tough enough to stick in there. We created a
bunch of adversity for ourselves in the fourth quarter
and then clawed our way out of it,” said Washington
State coach Mike Leach. “The biggest thing in games
like this is to have the resiliency to fi ght through them.
You don’t know how it is going to unfold. The only way
you are going to have a chance is if you fi ght through it
and you are willing to do it from start to fi nish.”
Gordon went 50 of 70 for 606 yards, six touchdowns
and three interceptions. He broke the Pac-12 single
season passing touchdown record formerly held by Jake
Browning and Jared Goff when he hit Renard Bell in
the end zone with 1:44 left in the third quarter. Gordon
has 45 passing touchdowns for the season.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Gordon said. “I really haven’t
had the time to refl ect on it. The individual awards
aren’t really all that important to me to be honest
though. It just goes to show if you keep your head
down and work hard anything is possible. I’m just real
proud of the way our team battled. The defense did an
unbelievable job of getting that stop on fourth down and
giving us a chance and I’m so happy the way we pulled
through on that last drive.”
Renard Bell had 108 receiving yards and two
touchdowns and Dezmon Patmon added 75 yards and
two touchdowns for the Cougars. Both Deon McIntosh
and Calvin Jackson also caught touchdown passes and
had 93 and 76 yards receiving for the Cougars. Borghi
rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns.
Oregon State (5-6, 4-4) recovered an onside kick on
their 49, down three with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter
and converted it into a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
The Beavers were up 53-42 with 4:17 left in the game
before Washington State closed out the game with two
consecutive touchdowns.
“It was a heck of a football game. It was back-and-
forth and credit Washington State for continuing to
answer,” said Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith. “We
got ourselves down by 11, responded with a couple of
quick scores to take the lead and it goes back-and-forth.
Our guys played their hearts out, they really did, but
we were just one play short.”
Cavaliers hand Blazers
fourth consecutive loss
and scored 28 points to help
Cleveland beat the Portland
CLEVELAND — Riding
Trail Blazers 110-104.
a six-game losing streak,
Clarkson’s season high,
coming off a 42-point loss and which included 14 points in
playing without their leading the fourth quarter, came a
scorer seemed to be a negative night after he was held score-
set of circumstances for the
less in a 143-101 loss at Dal-
Cleveland Cavaliers.
las. The Cavaliers completed a
Those obstacles didn’t mat- stretch of fi ve games in seven
ter Saturday night.
days Saturday after the team
Jordan Clarkson made all
arrived in Cleveland around
six of his 3-point attempts
3 a.m.
Larry Nance Jr. started in
place of forward Kevin Love,
NOV 22-28
who missed his second game
this week because of a sore
ELTRYM
HISTORIC THEATER back.
“Obviously, last night wasn’t
1809 1st Street, Baker City
www.eltrym.com
necessarily a morale booster,”
said Nance, who had 11 points
and 12 rebounds. “To come
PG
back in and win this game,
FRI: (4:10) 7:10, 9:40
I’m really excited to see.”
SAT: (1:10) (4:10) 7:10, 9:40
SUN: (1:10) (4:10) 7:10 M-T: 7:10
Cleveland coach John
W-TH: (4:10) 7:10, 9:40
Beilein has remained upbeat
A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN
despite his team’s diffi cult
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
stretch that dropped the
PG
FRI: (4:00) 7:00, 9:35
Cavaliers’ record to 5-11.
SAT: (1:00) (4:00) 7:00, 9:35
“I didn’t see any fatigue,” he
SUN: (1:00) (4:00) 7:00 M-T: 7:00
W-TH: (4:00) 7:00, 9:35
said. “I didn’t see anything but
effort to try and win the game.
PG-13
There are a lot of teams that
FRI: (3:50) 6:50, 9:30
SAT: (12:50) (3:50) 6:50, 9:30
have had tough schedules,
SUN: (12:50) (3:50) 6:50 M-T: 6:50
that have had injuries and
( )Bargain Matinee
are rebuilding. We just have
Show Times: 541-523-2522
Offi ce: 541-523-5439
to stick together so we can be
By Steve Herrick
Associated Press
FROZEN 2
HARRIET
better than this.”
Tristan Thompson scored
25 points and Cleveland held
off a Trail Blazers’ run in the
fourth quarter.
Damian Lillard returned
after missing two games
because of back spasms and
scored 23 points, but Portland
dropped to 5-12 and is 2-10
this month. The Trail Blazers
have lost four straight and
fi ve of seven.
Portland advanced to the
Western Conference fi nals
last season, but the Trail Blaz-
ers are struggling without
center Jusuf Nurkic, who
broke his leg in March and is
still sidelined.
“I’m not a big worrier, but
there is reason for concern on
certain things,” Lillard said.
“Because of the expectations
for us, absolutely, it’s disap-
pointing.”
Carmelo Anthony, playing
his third game with Port-
land, scored 11 points in 35
minutes. Anthony was 5 of 15
from the fi eld and missed all
eight of his 3-point attempts.
“Physically I feel great,” he
said. “Mentally I feel great.
We’ve all been in situations
like this before where we’re
trying to fi gure it out.”