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Down 40-28 in enemy territory with eight minutes to go and a brand new freshman quarterback making his first ever collegiate start, someone needed to take charge.
Moments after a fake punt that gave Oregon a laugh and a first down, Marcus Ball fielded a Oregon fumble that he took to the Ducks’ 10-yard-line, setting up an easy drive for the one and only, Kalen Ballage.
On a backwards pitch from Dillon Sterling-Cole, Ballage muscled seven yards down the field to the three-yard-line.
On second and goal, in the ever so reliable “Sparky formation,” Ballage didn’t run, but rolled out to his right like a wiarteback and threw too an uncovered Kody Kohl for a 3-yard touchdown.
Kalen Ballage touchdown pass to Kody Kohl. Nothing about this offense makes sense, but it’s awesome. 40-35 Ducks lead with 6:39 left.
— Matthew Tonis (@Tonis_The_Tiger) October 30, 2016
Magically, the Sun Devils were down by five points with six and a half minutes left to play.
Right at the four-minute mark, the 3-yard TD pass can be seen in the video below.
The touchdown was Ballage’s third of the game, as he also rushed for two touchdowns. With 27 passing yards, the then-junior running back ran for 62 yards and led all Sub Devil receivers with 105 yards on six catches.
Arisona State evebtually lost the game when Sterling-Cole proceeded to throw interceptions on his final two drives. The Sun Devils fell 54-35.
Ballage’s touchdown pass marked the eighth different player to complete a pass in the 2016 season. Along with quarterbacks Manny Wilkins, Brady White and Sterling-Cole, and positional players N’Keal Harry, Jack Smith, Demario Richard and Jalen Harvey.
Among all of them, Ballage was the only positional player to throw a touchdown.