Oregon football wins and individual records fall in the Ducks' rout of Arizona State

Oregon can only hope style points and record-setting individual moments matter to the College Football Playoff rankings committee.

And to Heisman Trophy voters as well.

Led by a superlative first half performance from Bo Nix and the Oregon offense, the sixth-ranked Ducks turned their penultimate game of the regular season into a never-contested rout as they beat Arizona State 49-13 in a Pac-12 football game at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe Saturday afternoon.

The 36-point victory doesn’t do justice to the dominance displayed by Nix and the Ducks, who scored touchdowns on all six first-half possessions to lead 42-0 at the break.

The offense recorded 603 yards overall and the defense recorded a first-half shutout for the second time this season and held their opponent to 13 or fewer points for the sixth time.

“It feels awesome,” Nix said. “A complete team win.”

Next up for Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Pac-12) is the regular-season finale at 5:30 p.m. Friday against No. 11 Oregon State at Autzen Stadium with a spot in the Pac-12 championship game on the line.

“This game’s our Super Bowl,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “They’re obviously a really talented team, they’re coached extremely well. … I’m excited to see what our fans do when they show out to this game, but this is a big one.”

Here are some takeaways from the Ducks’ first win in Tempe since 2015.

Bo Nix is operating at a different level

The senior quarterback is in the thick of the Heisman race for a reason.

On Saturday Nix tied the single-game school record with six touchdown passes — all in the first half — and he completed 24-of-29 attempts for 404 yards overall, 381 of which came in the first half.

He nearly set the single-game passing touchdown record on the opening drive of the second half but a catch by tight end Terrance Ferguson in the end zone was waved off due offensive pass interference.

His NCAA-leading completion percentage went from 77.7 to 78.1 and he moved into the national lead with 35 TD passes this season to just two interceptions.

“We talk about striking when the iron’s hot and playing your best football at the end of the season and right now we’re playing very good football with Bo Nix,” Lanning said.

A week after throwing TD passes of 77 and 84 yards, Nix came out firing against the Sun Devils and his old mentor, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham.

In order, Nix had touchdown passes of 23, 49, 16, 45, 71 and 16 yards.

“In the first half he came out hitting on his reads and there were times it felt like he was making calls on his own,” Arizona State defensive tackle Dashaun Mallory said. “It was his ability to be a mastermind out there … That’s who Bo Nix is. He’s a field general out there. Got nothing but respect for the guy and obviously he was controlling the entire game from the first snap to the last snap.”

Records fall as points and yards pile up

Nix’s productive outing went hand-in-hand with another big day for wide receiver Troy Franklin, who set the school record for single-season receiving yards and touchdown catches, and tied the school record for career touchdown receptions.

The junior needed 91 yards to break Dillon Mitchell’s single-season school record of 1,184 receiving yards. He finished with 128 on eight catches, including touchdown grabs of 16 and 45 yards.

“He’s incredible,” Nix said. “His approach to the game, he’s just so hard to guard. He moves around all game … he’s always there. He’s always there when you need him.”

Franklin now has 68 catches for 1,221 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, and increased his career TD catch total to 23.

The school record for single-season receptions in 77.

“This guy's the definition of consistency right now,” Lanning said. “The quarterback knows exactly where he’s gonna be at and he’s always there and when the ball’s thrown his way he catches it and then he’ll turn a normal comeback route into a big gain. He’s a special player that comes to work, that wants that ownership of what it means to be an elite receiver and is owning that every day.”

It was also a record-setting day for senior kicker Camden Lewis, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 386 points, surpassing Royce Freeman’s mark of 384.

Lewis was 7-for-7 on extra point attempts Saturday and has made 149 consecutive extra points, the longest active streak in the nation.

Patrick Herbert shines in expanded role

The junior tight end had his best statistical game of his career with three catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

Herbert scored on the Ducks’ first two touchdowns of the game, catching a 23-yard pass on the opening drive and then taking a screen pass 49 yards to the house on the second drive, letting center Jackson Powers-Johnson and guard Steven Jones pave the road down field as he went into the end zone untouched.

The two touchdowns doubled his career total and his 49-yard catch was a career-long.

“He’s a great example of guy who puts in the work every single day and probably doesn’t get highlighted as much as he deserves," Lanning said. "But we talk about everybody’s alive in this offense and anybody can be the guy that gets targeted. I think it was a great opportunity for Pat to go out there and prove exactly what his ability is.”

What it all means

The Ducks still control their own destiny and a win next week will set them up for a Pac-12 Championship game appearance on Dec. 1 in Las Vegas and keep alive their chances of making the four-team CFP.

“We have a huge opportunity next week,” Herbert said. “You want to win every game you can and OSU’s a great opponent.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon football shines in big win against Arizona State Sun Devils