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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Oregon survived its post-USC matchup. Now
it's Arizona State's turn. The No. 25 Ducks and No. 17 Sun Devils square off Saturday night
in a matchup of two of the Pac-10's top passers, Oregon's Kellen
Clemens and Arizona State's Sam Keller. The game features the two most recent victims of the No. 1
Trojans. Oregon scored the first 13 points against USC two weeks
ago and lost at home 45-13, then last Saturday at Sun Devil
Stadium, Arizona State led the Trojans 21-3 at the half and lost
38-28. Keller is confident his team won't be suffering a hangover from
the emotional defeat. "I think it's just part of our team psyche that when we lose,
rather than feel sorry for ourselves, we feel sorry for the team
that has to come here and play us," he said. Keller had an awful second half against USC, throwing four
interceptions. In all, he had five for the game, after throwing
just two picks in the first three games combined. The junior
acknowledged he tried to force too much, and said he would learn
from his mistakes. He won't, however, let the performance get him
down. "You've got to have a short memory when you are a quarterback
and I have one," he said. Oregon (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10) rebounded from the USC loss by winning
at Stanford 44-20. Clemens completed 22 of 29 passes for 393 yards
and three touchdowns. The yardage was second-most in his career. But Arizona State (3-2, 1-1) presents a lot more problems than
winless Stanford. The statistics indicate a high-scoring passing
matchup. Oregon averages 36 points, 466 total yards and 336 yards
passing per game. Arizona State's totals: 43 points, 556 yards and
386 yards passing. The difference could be which defense plays the best. "We took some very positive steps last week," Oregon coach
Mike Bellotti said. "That second half against Stanford was the way
I believe we can play every time, and we need to play -- with great
emotion, great intensity and great attention to detail." But Oregon's defensive scheme is predicated on stopping the run,
and that could mean a big night for Keller and his band of talented
receivers, led by Derek Hagan. "By Oregon's choice, they try to make you one dimensional that
you have to throw the ball, and that plays to our strength," Sun
Devils coach Dirk Koetter said. "If they do this against us, it's
not a big secret of what we are going to do." The Ducks run a spread offense that plays to Clemens' strengths. "This is our first time seeing Clemens in a spread offense. I
do think he is an excellent spread quarterback," Koetter said. "I
think he's their second leading rusher. He has a very strong arm
and I think he's only thrown one interception this year. Very
seldom does he turn the ball over by interception." A second conference loss would be a big blow for either program,
with both teams having their signs on second place in the Pac-10.
Arizona State has won the last three meetings, the latest a 28-13
victory at Oregon last year. "We have to come out and go just as hard as we did last week,
because this is not a slouch coming in here," Keller said. "And
these guys are really angry at us for beating them ever since I've
been here, two times at their house. They're going to come down
here with a lot of fight so we just got to look forward and be
ready."
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