The Oregon Ducks’ playoff dreams were officially taken away on Saturday night after a surprising 31-28 defeat at the hands of the unranked Arizona State Sun Devils.
Oregon, who was ranked #6 in the standings heading into the night, found themselves unable to contain freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who led the Sun Devils to their biggest win of the season.
Daniels, who was named the starting quarterback in August and became the first-ever true freshman to start a season opener for Arizona State, was unleashed in his team’s 3-point win on Saturday.
He completed 22 of 32 passes for a whopping total of 408 yards and 3 touchdowns, having his way with an Oregon secondary that found itself beaten time and time again by the talented freshman’s arm.
After Oregon opened the scoring with a first-quarter touchdown, the Devils scored 24 unanswered points. Oregon mounted a late rally, scoring two quick touchdowns to narrow the gap to 24-21 halfway through the final quarter.
Arizona State, however, was able to score again to take a ten-point lead, allowing them to close out a victory that clinches bowl eligibility for them and kills any hope Oregon had of making the College Football Playoff.
