Oregon jumps out to early lead over Arizona State

This week’s matchup between Arizona State football and No. 6 Oregon was an uphill battle before the game even kicked off.

Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham planned to have some tricks up his sleeve against his former employer, but the tricks that did work didn’t lead to points early.

Versatile running back Cameron Skattebo took a few snaps at quarterback, but his only success through the air came on a deep pass interference intended for Troy Omeire and a screen play that Jalin Conyers took 31 yards.

Both chunk plays came on the same drive, which ended in a missed 43-yard field goal try by Dario Longhetto.

Defensively, the Sun Devils started well, setting up a would-be three-and-out on Oregon’s first possession, but the Ducks converted a third-and-11 with a Bo Nix strike to Tez Johnson for 18 yards.

Oregon would go on to score touchdowns on each of their first six possessions. All six scoring plays were of the explosive variety, all passes of at least 15 yards with three covering more than 40 yards.

On the three possessions that followed their missed field goal, ASU punted. The Sun Devils had just one play of at least 10 yards over that stretch.

On their final drive before the half, Conyers provided a pair of 12-yard runs, taking the snaps himself. Elijhah Badger added a cutback for 14 yards as the Sun Devils converted two fourth-downs as part of a 65-yard drive, their longest of the day.

Skattebo threw an interception as the Sun Devils approached the red zone, halting their best offensive effort of the half. Oregon, with just over a minute remaining, elected to march down the field and score on Nix’s sixth touchdown pass of over 15 yards, expanding their lead to 42-0.

Sun Devils would go on to score three times in the second half after the game was well in hand for the Ducks. 49-13 was the final.