Oregon got its first Pac-10 victory of 2006 with a 48-10 season opening win over Stanford September 2. The Ducks haven’t played a league opponent since opening week but travel to Tempe to face Arizona State on Saturday (3:30 p.m., EDT) (ABC). The Sun Devils will be looking for their first conference win in the teams second try, losing to California Sept 23 on the road. The Ducks (3-0, 1-0 Pac-10) are coming off a bye week after securing wins in their first three contests of the season including the much publicized, 34-31 victory over Oklahoma Sept 16.
The Sun Devils hold the advantage in the overall series, 16-10 and have won three of the last four meetings. The Ducks snapped a three-game win streak by ASU, winning 31-17 in Tempe last season. Arizona State’s three straight wins snapped a four-game win-streak by the Ducks. Prior to last season, the Ducks last won at Sun Devil Stadium in 2000 when quarterback Joey Harrington led the Ducks to a thrilling 56-55 double-overtime victory.
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In Arizona State’s loss to Cal (Sept 23) running back Ryan Torain had a career-high 191 yards rushing and two scores and quarterback Rudy Carpenter went 16-of-35 for 177 yards and two touchdowns, but had a key fumble in addition to his four interceptions.
Cal quarterback Nate Longshore threw four touchdown passes and DeSean Jackson returned a punt 80 for a score as Cal scored 42-points in the first half and defeated ASU, 49-21.
In Monday’s press conference ASU head coach Dirk Koetter expressed desire to get his team back up after a devastating loss.” You have to get right back at it, right back in the fray. When you lose a game it hurts,” Koetter said. “ The competitive side of you wants to get back out there and get after it again. In life you have to pick yourself up and go compete again. Sunday and Mondays are the hardest. Start practicing again and start getting your game plan together. The build up will begin all over again for Oregon. The loss to California hurts a lot in the short term, but there is a lot of ball left to be played."
The Ducks enjoyed a bye week Sept 23 but were the talk of the college football world following their win over Oklahoma 34-33 in Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Despite a controversial call late in the game, the Ducks staged a remarkable comeback to win. After driving 65 yards to score and pull within six points of Oklahoma, the Ducks recovered the onside kick with 1:12 remaining. After a lengthy review, Oregon was awarded the ball and capped an impressive comeback when Dennis Dixon hit brain Paysinger on a 23-yard pass with 46 seconds remaining. Oregon rallied with 14 points over the final 3:12 to overcome a 33-20 deficit. But the Sooners still had a chance to walk away with the victory when an attempted 43-yard field goal was blocked by Oregon linebacker Blair Phillips.
Oregon has been installed as a –1 ½ point favorite in this road game. The total is set at 63 ½.
