Arizona State Football: Winners and Losers from Oregon Loss

Hopes were high for No. 18 Arizona State going into Eugene to take on the No. 9 Oregon Ducks for a big Pac-12 matchup.

The Sun Devils saw a few upsets already on the day, when Michigan State beat Michigan and Ohio State beat Illinois. They were hoping they could pull off one as well.

With ESPN "College GameDay" at Autzen, it was going to be tough for the Sun Devils to even get past the Oregon crowd.

The Sun Devils kept things close in the first half, but as it seems to always be, it was a Ducks' second half.

The Sun Devils ended up losing the game 41-27. In what could have been a closer game turned out to just be another Oregon crushing.

The Sun Devils have a bye this week, so they will hopefully take that time to evaluate what went wrong.

Here is a look at the winners and losers from the Sun Devils' Oregon loss.

Winner: Cameron Marshall

Arizona State running back Cameron Marshall had a good game for what he was given.

Marshall was given the ball 20 times, and with that, he gained 97 yards and a touchdown.

Marshall has taken a back seat to the Sun Devils' passing game, but he is still an incredibly effective running back.

Marshall was able to break off for one carry of 24 yards. Still, Marshall wasn't able to do much when the Sun Devils heavily favored the pass in the second half.

Loser: Brock Osweiler

The Oregon Ducks knew the one way they were going to stop Arizona State's offense was by stopping 6'8" quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Things started out promising for Osweiler.

He started out the first quarter going 10-for-13 with two touchdowns for 123 yards. He finished the game 29-for-46 with 291 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The yardage was great, but the fact that Osweiler was not able to keep the success going hurts him greatly.

Sure, one of the interceptions was due to Jamal Miles juggling an easy pass, but in the end, it is still an interception and the pass was from Osweiler.

The Sun Devils needed Osweiler to keep up the momentum he built in the first quarter, but the Sun Devils just kept losing their fire quarter by quarter.

Winner: Sun Devil Receivers

On a positive note, the Sun Devil wide receivers looked solid at Autzen.

While the Ducks slowed down the streaking Aaron Pflugrad, the Sun Devils found production from big men Mike Willie and Gerell Robinson.

Robinson and Willie both caught touchdowns in the first quarter. Willie gained a total of 79 yards on five receptions, while Robinson gained 120 yards on just six.

A total of eight Sun Devil receivers caught the ball on Saturday night, but unfortunately the Duck's defense prevailed.

Loser: Sun Devils Rush Defense

With All-American running back LaMichael James out of action Saturday night, the Sun Devils were handed a gift.

All they had to do was slow down the Oregon Ducks rushing game, which was averaging 350 yards a game. Without James, the Ducks gained a total of 327 rushing yards. Not what I would call taking advantage of a great situation.

With James out, Oregon handed the ball to junior running back Kenjon Barner. It was no secret that Barner was a great back as well, but no one expected him to break out for 170 yards on 31 carries with a touchdown.

He was the running back, so it was no surprise. The reason why the Sun Devils failed in this situation was because they allowed quarterback Darron Thomas to score twice on the ground. Thomas accumulated 71 yards on seven carries.

Thomas has taken a back seat in the running game this season, but with James out, he took advantage of openings.

The Sun Devils should have been ready to stop Thomas, as he has shown in past seasons that he can run the ball.

Loser: Stopping Back Up Quarterback Bryan Bennett

Only down by 14 in the third quarter, the Sun Devils knocked Darron Thomas out of the game.

So now they had Thomas and LaMichael James out of the game. How could they manage to lose now?

Well, the Sun Devils kept playing the way they were, and they continued to allow backup quarterback Bryan Bennett run all over them.

Bennett, who has only made three appearances so far this season, made an impact Saturday night.

The Sun Devils just had to stop him, but they honestly couldn't.

Bennett didn't even throw the ball that much. He only attempted five passes in about one-and-a-half quarters. Bennett made his impact on the ground.

The Ducks' backup gained 65 yards on five carries. Yep, the Sun Devils couldn't even stop the backup quarterback.

Obviously, the Ducks have talented players across the board, but the Sun Devils needed to take advantage of yet another gift they were given.

Winner: Oregon Fans

The Sun Devils had high hopes coming into Saturday night's game, but they were crushed by mostly the strength of the Autzen Stadium crowd.

Autzen is known to be loud and relentless, and they proved that again in this game.

The Sun Devils were in a hostile environment, and perhaps the crowd got to them towards the second half.

Loser: Sun Devil's Coaching

After having a great first quarter, one would expect that veteran head coach Dennis Erickson would have kept this team's composure high.

Then again, we are talking about Dennis Erickson.

The Sun Devils finished the game 5-of-16 on third down attempts. This result is unacceptable, and it pretty much just sums up the effectiveness of this offense following the first quarter.

Erickson has been considered questionable in his coaching of the past, and of course things are going to be more highly criticized following a loss. That being said, how could the Sun Devils still completely fall apart?

Yes, they only lost by 14, but they were completely ineffective as each quarter passed.

The Sun Devils have been successful at keeping up their composure this season, coming back late many times. The Oregon Ducks were perhaps just too overwhelming for the Sun Devils to come back in this game.

Winner/Loser: Jamal Miles

The Sun Devils limited playmaker Jamal Miles on Saturday night, but when he touched the ball, he was effective. Most notably in the backfield.

Miles was given the ball seven times on the ground, and with that he ran for a total of 68 yards. That is 9.7 yards per carry. The high number is partly due to a 51-yard run, but that is still impressive for the limited touches he received.

Miles also had six receptions for 24 yards. Most of these were screen passes, but the Ducks were able to stop that for the most part. Miles is more effective coming out of the backfield then catching passes, as the Sun Devils have seen thus far this season.

Miles was also a loser for this game though since he dropped perhaps the touchdown that would have kept Arizona State into the game. Not only did he drop it, it turned into an interception. It wasn't that difficult as a pass either, Miles just looked to juggle it as it him right in the hands.

The Sun Devils could be more effective if they allowed Miles to make more plays. We have seen that he is a game-changer. 

The Sun Devils will need to find a way to get their X-factor more involved in each game in order to increase their chances of future success.

Loser: Vontaze Burfict

Where was Vontaze Burfict on Saturday night?

The game in which he needed to be the most effective he could, Burfict was nowhere to be seen against Oregon.

Sure, he had had seven tackles, but none of those were for a loss. Burfict hasn't tallied up a sack in his last five games now.

Burfict is a great middle linebacker, and he is intimidating to any offense. He just needs to start being more aggressive.

When backup quarterback Bryan Bennett comes in, you need to welcome him to the game with a nice hit. You can't let him run all over you and your defense.

Burfict is projected to be one of the top players in next year's NFL draft. He needs to start playing above everyone else.

Winner: Sun Devils' Uniforms

Maybe I am just biased, but I don't understand Oregon's uniforms.

Oregon's colors are yellow and green, and all I saw was black and grey.

The Sun Devils were wearing their traditional white, maroon and gold, and they looked much better. Oregon has sweet uniforms and combinations, but the Sun Devils perhaps had them beat this game with their new uniforms.

It just felt like watching Arizona State. When you watch Oregon, sometimes you need to check who the team is because they never wear the same uniforms.

Maybe with green pants the Ducks would have looked a little more "Oregon," but they need to start to wear more of the green and yellow instead of the other colors, in my opinion.