#14 Oregon Ducks have Arizona State Sun Devils on the run

Oregon put its loss to Stanford safely in the rear-view mirror Saturday, fending off Arizona State, 44-21, before 58,475 in Autzen Stadium. Now 8-2 overall, the No. 14 Ducks are the lone one-loss team in the conference at 6-1, a record they’ll put on the line next week at Arizona.

By the time the Ducks and Sun Devils (4-6, 2-5) kicked off Saturday night, USC had been shellacked by Stanford, likely bringing an end to the Trojans’ seven-year run as Pac-10 champs. Then, California handed Arizona its second conference loss, opening the door for Oregon to enter next week alone atop the standings.

The Sun Devils’ run defense, the best in the Pac-10 and sixth in the nation allowing an average of 87.44 yards rushing going into the game, allowed the Ducks to gain 268 yards on the ground. LaMichael James, the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-him redshirt freshman, had 119 yards and three touchdowns on 11 first-half carries. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 10 of 20 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

Oregon has won five straight over Arizona State, by an average score of 42-19. The Ducks now take their first-place record to Arizona, where some very good Duck teams, and some outstanding recent UO quarterbacks, have struggled.

Go Ducks!