ASU football dominated in 2nd half in loss to Oregon State

No. 23 Oregon State moved the chains play after play, racking up 25 first downs over its 48 plays through three quarters Saturday against Arizona State.

The Sun Devil defense struggled to get off the field or even force third downs in their home finale, as OSU was 4-for-6 on third downs through the first 45 minutes.

The Beavers walked away with a 31-7 victory after outscoring ASU 17-0 in the second half.

ASU, already eliminated from bowl game contention after last week’s loss to Washington State, dropped to 3-8 on the season.

Its season finale is next Friday in the Territorial Cup against Arizona in Tucson.

Arizona State moved the ball on the ground with 154 rushing yards led by Xazavian Valladay’s 109. But the Sun Devils ended four drives with punts, two with turnovers on downs and another with a missed field goal by Carter Brown.

ASU’s defense initially kept the game close after allowing an opening-possession touchdown in the first quarter. ASU tied the game at seven with just under two minutes left in the opening half on a Valladay touchdown run.

X. Valladay breaks off a 39-yard run and then he takes it in from 11 yards out. ASU trails 14-7 at the half. @AZSportsDevils pic.twitter.com/6WNXkvuY5b

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) November 19, 2022

The Beavers, though, marched down the field to score on a 53-second drive before the break. Oregon State doubled down with a touchdown drive out of halftime, and the hole for ASU was too deep to climb out of.

UNFAZED FOWL

The Beavers played without much fear in Tempe, but a bold pigeon really showed guts on Saturday. The bird was feasting in the south end zone for much of the second half, regardless of the danger.

It had to shift its positioning slightly when a pass to the end zone infringed upon its buffet, but the pigeon had no intention of heading for the exit.

The director of the ASU-Oregon St. football broadcast on ESPN is fixated with a random pigeon pic.twitter.com/O3dVYH4lBf

— Bob Adlhoch🇺🇦 (@badlhoch) November 19, 2022

Efforts by referees and players to get the bird to leave failed.

In a game that wasn’t close, the bird at least gave talking points to the ESPN broadcast.

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