ASU Football: Sun Devils fall to Oregon State 35-27

Eds: This is our instant recap published immediately after the game. It is formatted in reverse chronological order, with the second half on top of the first half.

Oregon State opened the second half hot, with two big plays a few smaller ones getting to the Arizona State 19. Marcus Hardison stuffed the Beavers on third down, then Sean Mannion overthrew his man in the end zone on fourth down for the turnover. Arizona State was unable to make it count, and punted it away.

It was from there Oregon State put together possibly the best drive of the game. It consisted of 11 plays for 87 yards and ate 5:50 of clock. There was not a third down on the drive. It was capped by a 20-yard touchdown reception by Victor Bolden and the Beavers got back within a score, bringing it to 24-21.

Arizona State ramped it up to another level as the third quarter was ending. The Sun Devils stopped any Oregon State advance, and finished it with a third-down sack of Mannion by Hardison. On the first play of the final frame, Oregon State punted, but interfered with the Sun Devil return man, giving Arizona State the ball at the Oregon State 42-yard line.

Arizona State was held to a field goal, and led 27-21 when it kicked off to Oregon State with 12:34 left in regulation. On the drive, Oregon State faced its 10th third-down of the night and converted for the first time in the biggest possible way, a 67-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Villamin, giving it the 28-27 lead.

Then all the drama came down to one drive. Oregon State sucked away the clock and punted the ball to the Sun Devils, who received it at their own 15-yard line, down by one with 2:52 minutes to get within Zane Gonzalez's field goal range.

And for all the marbles, Taylor Kelly threw an interception. It landed in the arms of Michael Doctor and returned all the way for a touchdown. Oregon State led 35-27, but there was enough time on the clock. Arizona State had 1:38 and one more chance.

It ended up being for naught. The Sun Devils faced a 4th-and-2 and Kelly was sacked. Oregon State ran out the victory formation and No. 6 was knocked off its throne.

First half:

Oregon State dominated for a majority of the first half, but turnovers and Jaelen Strong helped the Sun Devils gain the lead going into halftime.

Arizona State targeted D.J. Foster three times to no avail, gaining just two yards on their first drive and Oregon State forced a punt. Two well defended passes by Lloyd Carrington helped the Sun Devils to force a quick stop of the Beavers on the next drive. After another Arizona State three-and-out, OSU struck first on a 78-yard touchdown run by Storm Woods to give the Beavers an early 7-0 lead.

The Sun Devils progressed a little farther on the next drive with a 14-yard run but Arizona State punted again and OSU started with the ball on their own 20-yard line. Soon after, Sean Mannion was pressured by Marcus Hardison, forcing an interception by Damrious Randall which he returned to the OSU 19-yard line. The Sun Devils got three points off the turnover in the form of a 28-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal.

On the second play from scrimmage on the next OSU drive, Terron Ward found the end zone on a 66-yard run to put the Beavers up 14-3 with 5:51 left in the first half. D.J. Foster and Demario Richard then took over with 36 yards on the ground by Foster, capped off by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Kelly to bring the score to 14-10. Demario Richard also had a 29-yard reception on the drive to get the Sun Devils inside the red zone.

The Beavers moved over midfield again on a 35-yard run by Woods and then caught a break as Ronald Lewis ran into the OSU kicker to move it to fourth and one which the Beavers converted at the Arizona State 40-yard line. The Sun Devils stopped the Beavers on the next set of downs and took over on their own 17-yard line.

Three straight plays to Jaelen Strong for 35 yards was followed up by a 46-yard reception by Kody Kohl for an Arizona State touchdown. Oregon State was out near midfield again when Marcus Hardison forced a sack-fumble of Mannion and Antonio Longino scooped and scored to put Arizona State up 24-14.

Arizona State forced a three and out on the next drive and drove the length of the field. Foster dropped a pass on the Arizona State 7-yard line bringing up fourth down. Zane Gonzalez then missed a field goal, but the Sun Devils came up with a stop on the next drive. After getting the ball back, Taylor Kelly threw an interception at midfield but it didn't end up hurting the Sun Devils which went into halftime up 24-14.