Field Level Media
Nov 18, 2018
Justin Herbert threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and running back CJ Verdell scored twice as the Oregon Ducks held off Arizona State 31-29 in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday to eliminate the Sun Devils from the Pac-12 South race.
Herbert, who threw touchdown passes to the Pac-12's leading receiver, Dillon Mitchell, and to Verdell, has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 26 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the FBS.
Eno Benjamin rushed for 149 yards and Manny Wilkins threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score for the Sun Devils (6-5, 4-4), who needed to win to remain in the running for the division title after No. 17 Utah (8-3, 6-3) beat Colorado on Saturday.
Trailing 28-16, Wilkins threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk on a fourth-down play early in the fourth quarter.
After an Oregon field goal, Wilkins scored on a 1-yard run with 4:35 remaining, but his two-point conversion pass was caught out-of-bounds.
Arizona State got the ball back near midfield after Herbert's second interception, but Wilkins fumbled while being sacked with 3:02 remaining and Oregon ran out the clock.
The Ducks had 449 yards in total offense and held the Sun Devils to 324, but Arizona State scored 17 points off turnovers to keep it close.
Benjamin has eight 100-yards games this season, including the last four, and leads the Pac-12 with 1,444 yards rushing, closing in on the school record of 1,565 yards set by Woody Green in 1972.
Mitchell caught four passes for 103 yards, Verdell had 110 yards of total offense and Travis Dye rushed for 105 yards. The Ducks, who had lost three of four, have won 11 of the last 12 in the series.
Verdell scored on a 6-yard run on the first possession of the game and scored on an 18-yard pass from Herbert around a Brandon Ruiz field goal for a 14-6 lead.
Mitchell caught a 57-yard touchdown pass after another Ruiz field goal to make it 21-6.
Each team scored in the final minute of the first half.
Wilkins hit Frank Darby on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the half after a Herbert interception. Then Jaylon Redd scored on an 8-yard jet sweep with eight seconds left in the half to make it 28-13.
Ruiz's third field goal, which made it 28-16, was the only scoring in the third quarter.
--Field Level Media