(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
The kryptonite that had been ever so present for the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12) was noticeably absent in the first half of the Sun Devils matchup with No. 6 Oregon (9-1, 7-0 Pac-12), helping the Sun Devils take a 10-7 lead into halftime. After allowing opponents to score on the first possession of the game in three consecutive contests, the Sun Devil defense was able to get off the field on the opening drive Saturday night in Tempe.
All-in-all, the Arizona State defense held up well against Justin Herbert and the Oregon offense, holding the probable future first-round draft pick to 111 yards and zero touchdown passes in the first half. The Ducks opening touchdown drive was capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by sophomore Cyrus Habibi-Likio with 6:32 to play in the first quarter.
In total, the Sun Devil defense allowed 195 yards of total offense.
After throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns last week against Oregon State, freshman Jayden Daniels picked up where he left off, connecting with junior Frank Darby for a 57-yard touchdown to open the Sun Devil scoring.
Daniels 15th passing touchdown of the year moved the San Bernadino, Calif., native into first in the Arizona State freshman single-season passing record, previously set by Rudy Carpenter’s 2,273 yards in 2005.
During the opening half, Daniels ability to find Darby and senior Brandon Aiyuk on deep balls allowed the Sun Devils to move the ball in great chunks. Daniels was perfect in the first half, completing his first 12 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown.
Aiyuk and Darby allowed the Sun Devil passing attack to be successful throwing the ball vertically. In the first half, Arizona State completed four passes of over 15 yards, with three of the four being gains of greater than 30 yards.
