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Saturday, Oct. 30 6:30pm ET
Oregon wins on last-second 29-yard TD | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Thanks to Joey Harrington, the Oregon Ducks are still in the running for the Roses. Harrington, replacing an ineffective A.J. Feeley at quarterback, threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marshaun Tucker with nine seconds remaining Saturday to give Oregon a wild 20-17 comeback victory over Arizona State. "Shivers. Just shivers," Harrington said after the game when asked how he felt. "I thought last week was as good as it could get." The Ducks (5-3, 3-2 Pac-10) were coming off an equally dramatic 44-41 win over Arizona. In that game, Oregon tailback Reuben Droughns rushed for 202 yards on a school-record 45 carries. On Saturday, the Ducks used him as their workhorse again, and he carried 37 times for 188 yards -- many on powerful, grinding runs in which he carried tacklers or bowled them over after the initial hit. Arizona State (4-4, 3-2) appeared to put the game away on a 1-yard dive by Gerald Green with 1:04 remaining. But Harrington marched the Ducks down the field with ease, completing six of eight passes for 79 yards in just 55 seconds. "I knew there was going to be enough time," Droughns said. "I couldn't believe they punched it in so quickly and wouldn't try to run time off the clock." On second down from the Sun Devils' 29, he hit Tucker near the right front corner of the end zone, and Tucker tumbled in for the touchdown. "Joey Harrington obviously added a spark in that last drive," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "It's probably the stuff legends are made of." Stanford dropped to 5-1 in the conference, with Washington at 4-1 and Arizona State and Cal at 2-2. "That game was really vicious," Sun Devils coach Bruce Snyder said. "We're pretty resilient. A lot of interesting things have happened to us this season, but if you look in that locker room tonight, there's a pretty strong heart still beating." Arizona State had to leave six defensive backs home because of injuries, and free safety Craig Koontz and linebacker Solomon Bates were hurt Saturday. "Injuries are going to happen. They're part of the game, and happen to every team," said cornerback Courtney Jackson. "But that isn't what lost this game. We thought we did a real good job with the guys we had." Both starting quarterbacks played poorly in a first half that ended 3-3. Feeley was 9-of-25 for 134 yards and an interception while Arizona State's Ryan Kealy was just 4-of-16 for 54 yards and an interception in the first half. "In the first quarter, I had the jitters," said Feeley, who was benched last week for Harrington. "I think it's vital for any good football team to have two good quarterbacks, and we have that." Oregon drove inside the ASU 40-yard line six times but only managed a 24-yard field goal by Josh Frankel. ASU tied it on a 24-yarder by Stephen Baker with nine seconds left in the half. Harrington, who finished 12-of-21 for 148 yards and two scores, came in and made an immediate impact. He mixed up the pass and, running the option on several plays, enlivened the offense. Kealy finished 11-of-27 for 152 yards. The Sun Devils were without tailback J.R. Redmond, who was suspended for one game by the NCAA for accepting gifts from a woman who was a part-time employee of the ASU athletic department. Redmond became involved with the woman, Francine Arthur, who later lent him her cellular phone and told him that constituted a violation of NCAA rules. Arthur and Redmond were married Aug. 25 in Mesa, Ariz. Redmond has since filed for divorce, and Arthur reportedly is seeking half his future earnings. As part of an agreement with the NCAA, Redmond will repay the $173 in telephone bills and $418 Arthur paid for a plane ticket to Las Vegas. The money will be given to charity and Redmond will perform 20 hours of community service. ASU school officials and players refused to comment on the bizarre situation before the game, saying they did not want to jeopardize the divorce proceedings. But Oregon free safety Brandon McLemore had plenty to say about Arthur. "To have someone blackmail you like that, it's somewhat unfortunate," he said. "She basically set him up. But being an NCAA player, you have to be careful and know when people are trying to set you up." | ALSO SEE College Football Scoreboard Arizona State Clubhouse Oregon Clubhouse ASU star Redmond suspended one game by NCAA
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