Upset win and field-storming, ASU receives affirmation it’s on right track

A small kid dressed in a grey T-shirt and jeans pushed his way through the legs of a bunch of adults holding cameras. He stuck his hand out and asked for a picture. His father, in a gold shirt trying to catch up, followed holding a smartphone in his right hand.

Brandon Aiyuk knelt down, his head aligned with the boy’s, threw up a pitchfork with his right arm and smiled for what seemed like enough time to capture 35 candids. The father snapped his shots then thanked Aiyuk.

For the picture. And probably for the scene unfolding around the trio, the swarm of humanity Aiyuk helped create.

After all, it was his 81-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown reception with just under four minutes left that sealed it. All of it. The 31-28 upset over No. 6 Oregon. The dashing of the Ducks’ playoff hopes. The end of ASU’s four-game losing streak. The Devils’ bowl eligibility. The storming of the field.

Away from the boy, the father, and Aiyuk, another young fan -- probably a student -- was shirtless, rocking a pink visor that was both backward and upside down. He just started screaming, yelling no words in particular as he threw up his pitchforks, posing just in case a camera noticed him.

Then he turned around. He was walking side-by-side with quarterback Jayden Daniels and didn’t have a clue. When thousands of people pack into a small area all wearing maroon, picking the football players out can be like playing “Where’s Waldo.”

But others noticed Daniels and they chanted his name. The freshman quarterback turned, his gold mouthpiece hanging out of his mouth as it always does. The pink-visored kid took notice, slapping Daniels on the shoulder pads and saying, “Hey, good game today.”

Did he know it was Daniels? Maybe not. Did it matter? Definitely not.

Even if he didn’t recognize ASU’s freshman quarterback after his 408-yard spectacle Saturday night, America will. That’s because Daniels outdueled Oregon signal-caller Justin Herbert, a senior many pundits believe will be a high pick in the NFL Draft.

It was Daniels, though, who was undoubtedly the best quarterback Saturday. He was decisive. Against Oregon’s athletic secondary, he didn’t throw into trouble. He ran when the pocket collapsed. And for the most part, his offensive line gave him time to sit back and pick apart the Ducks’ defense.

“We talked about it. I said, ‘This is a national game. A team that is trying to get into playoff contention. They have a quarterback that is probably going to be a first-round pick. So who is going to play better?’” Edwards said he told Daniels. “That was my challenge to him. ‘How are you going to play?’ He just said, ‘OK, Coach. I got you.’”

Since he assumed the starting role in August, the San Bernardino native has had a flair for the dramatics -- or rather Arizona State has put itself in tight situations and Daniels has produced miracles.

He led an 11-play, 75-yard game-winning drive in the final minute at Michigan State. Two weeks later, he orchestrated a 15-play, fourth-quarter drive in Berkeley to knock off then-ranked Cal. In the game following, Daniels helicoptered into the end zone with 34 seconds left to knock off Washington State.

On Saturday, there was no deficit to overcome. No quandary that required Daniels’ heroics. The maroon sea flooding onto the field aside, that may be the most memorable and pertinent recollection of Saturday.

ASU didn’t need a phenomenon to knock off the sixth-ranked Ducks. No act of God. No fluke. It just had to hold on.

With under eight minutes left, the Sun Devils held a 24-7 lead. Sun Devil Stadium over-pressurized with excitement, the thoughts of storming the field clearly in the mind of everyone. Then the Ducks scored twice in two minutes.

Doubt crept in. It often does when odd things are happening.

Over the summer, offensive coordinator Rob Likens assigned his players a summer project. He told them to rewatch ASU’s loss at Oregon last season -- a 31-29 defeat that knocked away ASU’s conference title hopes. He told them to write down everything the team did wrong that game then text him their findings.

“I wanted them to have some thoughts about that as they started camp,” Likens said. “Pretty much everybody said we didn’t practice very good that week.”

The Sun Devils also committed eight penalties that night and went into the locker room with a 15-point halftime deficit. And of all the things that ASU knew it couldn’t do Saturday, against a better Oregon team, it had to avoid a lethargic start and drive-killing penalties.

It was that combination that led the Sun Devils on a four-game losing streak, that dropped them out of the rankings and forced their bowl eligibility to hold until late November. And against the Ducks, Arizona State avoided its normal self-inducing kryptonite.

“We know how good we are and we haven’t been playing up to our potential,” linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, who had one of ASU’s two interceptions said. “This was a prime-time game where we to (play to our potential) and we went out and did.”

The Sun Devils were tied after the first quarter, ahead by a field goal at halftime. And, as for penalties, ASU had 12, including a half dozen false starts. But very few stalled drives. And in the end, the Devils overcame it all.

That’s why Frank Kush Field turned into a Mill Avenue bar on Saturday night. The strobe lights flickering. The music blaring. The masses screaming and dancing.

At one point this year, the scene felt fortuitous. Not the whole beating No. 6 Oregon part but the joyous spectacle. The Sun Devils had Rose Bowl expectations, a notion they weren’t afraid to share, and after a 5-1 start, their youth seemed like more of a blessing than a hindrance.

The four-game skid shattered those dreams, just as ASU shattered Oregon’s National Championship aspirations. Beating Oregon didn’t allow ASU to regain any of the traction that became extinct over the last month, but it did signal it’s on the right track, on a course where Oregon’s hopes can be its own.

“That’s what you aspire for,” defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. “And if we can win more games around here, it won’t be a big deal.”

Away from the clog of humanity that made its home in the middle of the field, a number of the Sun Devil assistant coaches sauntered around with a look of what seemed to be part awe, part relief and part gratification.

Offensive line coach Dave Christensen saw some youngsters asking freshman Dohnovan West for autographs. He allowed the autograph session to conclude before tapping his right guard on the back and hugging him in a loving embrace.

Before he got down on his right knee to pose for a picture, Aiyuk made eye contact with his receivers coach Charlie Fisher. Like Christensen and West, the two hugged and shared words of appreciation.

“We’ve been hugging them on the other side, consoling them like, ‘Hey, man, stay with it. Stay with it.’” Likens said. “We haven’t gotten that instant satisfaction but through four games they persevered.”

There were likely I love you’s and Thank you’s exchanged, but nights and environments Saturday provide the backdrop for confirmation. It’s an affirmation for players and coaches and fans and everyone that things are OK, that there’s a good thing going that has a chance to be special.

Because, in the end, that’s what Saturday was -- special.

“We got the win, that’s exciting,” Aiyuk said. “And it just shows how good we could’ve been (this season).”

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