Nov 3, 2001
EUGENE, Ore. - One week after a heartbreaking loss at home to nationally-ranked Washington, Arizona State headed to the Northwest to battle yet another ranked Pac-10 foe. However, it was senior Heisman Trophy candidate Joey Harrington and his eighth-ranked green and yellow Ducks of Oregon (8-1, 5-1) who got the better of ASU (4-4, 1-4), handing the Devils their fourth conference loss of the season with a 42-24 defeat.
Harrington brought Autzen Stadium to life with his thrilling 319-yard passing performance, including tossing six touchdowns on the day, while Arizona State had to fight without its starting quarterback Jeff Krohn for most of the game due to injury.
The Devils broke loose early, scoring quickly on their first drive behind the nifty footwork of senior tailback Delvon Flowers. Flowers capped off a Devil 63-yard drive by bursting through the left side of the line and sprinting 54 yards to give the Devils a 7-0 lead.
However, before the first quarter expired, Harrington mastered two drives in the last six minutes, passing for a pair of touchdowns to give the Ducks a 14-7 lead.
After exchanging punts in the second quarter, the Devils got within scoring distance with Krohn back in the lineup. Krohn, who suffered concussion symptoms early in the game and had left momentarily, returned and connected with wideout Shaun McDonald for a 39-yard gain down to the Oregon one-yard line.
The Devils were unable to get in the end zone on their next several attempts but were able to settle for a Mike Barth 19-yard field goal to cut away at the Oregon lead, 14-10. With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Oregon's Harrington threw his third TD of the game and his second to wide receiver Keenan Howry on a 24-yard pass to the corner of the end zone. Things got a bit heavier for the Devils as they headed into the locker room for the intermission, losing Krohn again on a hard hit before the final seconds of the half ticked away.
As the third quarter opened up, the Ducks' Harrington-Howry tandem became magical. Coupled with some costly Devil turnovers, Harrington led the Ducks downfield for two third-quarter strikes to Howry, putting Oregon up, 35-10. Harrington passed his sixth and final TD score on Oregon's first drive of the fourth quarter to put the Ducks out of reach for good, 42-10.
However, a bright spot for the Devils was Flowers' running game. Flowers racked up 107 total rushing yards on 20 carries, en route to his third 100-yard rushing game of the season. Flowers provided ASU with some bright offense and two more touchdown runs midway through the fourth quarter.
Sun Devil backup quarterback Andrew Walter completed several solid passes to tight end Mike Pinkard and McDonald to set up Flowers' two-yard TD dive at the 8:50 mark. On Oregon's next drive, ASU safety Jason Shivers recovered a Duck fumble at the Oregon 40-yard line to give the Devils' offense some more time on the field.
Shivers, who finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles, seemed to be everywhere when ASU's defense was called upon. ASU's offense moved downfield to set up the Devils' final score, another Flowers two-yard rushing TD at the 5:06 mark of the game.
The Devils showed strength on the ground and kept the Ducks' running game honest with good linebacker defense. However, having an injured starting quarterback made it more difficult for ASU to keep up with Oregon's high-powered offense.
SUN DEVIL GAME NOTES: Shivers led the Devil defense with 11 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery... Flowers recorded his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and fifth of his career. Flowers rumbled for 107 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns...The last time an ASU running back rushed for three touchdowns was J.R. Redmond's effort in 1999 in a 26-16 win over Southern California...McDonald added 104 more receiving yards to his career year, giving him 420 yards total over the last three games. McDonald has recorded 100 yards or more in each of the past three games, and is the first ASU receiver to do so since Keith Poole (1996). McDonald ranks second in the conference and 13th in the country in receiving yards....ASU ranks fourth in the Pac-10 and 14th in the nation in points per game (36.88 points per game).