The Oregon Ducks are absolutely routing an injury-ravaged Arizona State team and now lead 43-7 following a truly dominant first half.
The Sun Devils got off to a hot start with DT Will Sutton forcing a fumble from Marcus Mariota on just the second snap of the game. But even with Taylor Kelly finding Kevin Ozier for a 28-yard touchdown on their first play, ASU surely wished that turn of events never happened as Sutton was lost for the game due to a right leg injury he suffered on the turnover.
With Arizona State's most talented defender now out of the picture, the Ducks began to run wild. Beginning with RB Kenjon Barner busting off a 71-yard touchdown sprint on the second play of the next drive, Oregon would go on to score 43 unanswered in the half. The Ducks found pay dirt on six consecutive drives before their first punt.
Oregon was assisted with Kelly tossing two interceptions but it's not like ASU's ransacked defense could slow Oregon down even without the setback of a short a field. Beyond Sutton, the Devils also lost two other key defensive lineman as Junior Onyeali left with what looks to be shoulder injury and Davon Coleman missed some snaps after limping off.
Overall, the Ducks have already compiled 329 rushing yards against a Devils team that was allowing an average of 187.8 coming in. With their unstoppable ground game, Mariota has been asked to only throw 12 times but he's completed nine of them for 46 yards. The redshirt freshman has had 135 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown to compliment Barner (14 carries, 137 yards, three touchdowns).
As for Arizona State, the Devils have only been able to rack up 138 yards and six first downs in the game as Kelly has gone 3-for-10 since tossing a touchdown on his first pass. In the good news department, ASU will be getting the ball coming out of the locker room so hopefully they can make the score look a little more respectable before this one is over.