2. Oregon blew its chance at a playoff berth
Oregon had the roadmap to the College Football Playoff. All they had to do was do their job and win the games in front of them. The Ducks were no themselves in this one.
Let’s start with the offense. The obvious blame is going to be Justin Herbert, and rightfully so in this one. His throwing was horrendous. He threw an interception on a ten-yard dig route that he threw about three seconds late, and the corner was easily able to jump the route. The numbers kept coming up for his stats against the blitz, and the concerning part is he had no answer against the pass rush, with the best offensive line and skill position players in the Pac-12.
The frustrating part about Herbert has always been the potential. After his second interception, Oregon went for three straight touchdown drives, and he was sensational during them. The problem is that the stakes were gone and it was too little, too late for the Ducks.
A lot of credit has to go to the Sun Devils defense of course, but for a guy who is a supposed top ten pick in the draft, it took him three and a half quarters to figure out this Sun Devil defense that wasn’t great during their four game losing streak.
Defensively, I didn’t understand the lack of adjustments from Mario Cristobal and the coaching staff. Jayden Daniels went deep to Frank Darby on their second possession for a 57-yard score and the Ducks defense seemed to disregard the deep ball the entire game. Arizona State had three touchdowns over 25 yards, and the last touchdown to Aiyuk on third-and-16 with no deep safety is just an inexcusable play. More credit again to Arizona State, but Oregon has to be kicking themselves with the mistakes on the field.
Now, the best the Ducks can look forward to is the Rose Bowl, as the playoff seems completely out with two losses. They have the Civil War, then the Pac-12 title game after that.