Jayden Daniels vs. Justin Herbert: Rematch six years in the making after Arizona State’s wild win over Oregon

You’ll forgive even the most ardent Arizona State fans if they didn’t have particularly high hopes when No. 6 Oregon came to town Nov. 23, 2019. After losing to Auburn to open the season, the Ducks had reeled off nine straight wins, including a 56-24 thumping of USC and a 34-6 blowout of Arizona in the previous two weeks. Justin Herbert in discussions to be the No. 1 overall pick in a 2020 draft class that also included Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa. The Ducks were 13.5-point road favorites. 

The Sun Devils, meanwhile, were headed in the opposite direction. After a 5-1 start, they had lost four straight to fall to 5-5. Freshman Jayden Daniels was racking up the numbers and showing moments of being the next big thing, but the Sun Devils’ defense was struggling, and a season that had started with so much promise now looked like it might end without even a bowl berth.

And then the unexpected happened: Arizona State 31, No. 6 Oregon 28. The Ducks’ College Football Playoff hopes went up in smoke. It reminded us the hectic nature of college football knows no bounds. And with Daniels posting 408 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, a star was born.

Daniels and Herbert meet this weekend with the Washington Commanders visiting the Los Angeles Chargers. It’s their first meeting as pros, but given the nature of their 2019 duel, they certainly remember one another well.

How the game played out

After the game opened with consecutive punts, the Oregon offense embarked on an 11-play, 80-yard drive, capped by Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s 5-yard plunge into the end zone.

But as would be the case most of the night, Daniels would answer back with a big play, this time a 57-yard touchdown to Frank Darby.

The real star of the game through the first three quarters, though, was the Arizona State defense. The Sun Devils entered halftime up 10-7 and tacked on a field goal in the third quarter to make it 13-7 with 15 minutes to go. Keep in mind the Ducks had scored at least 34 points in four straight games.

The very first play of the fourth quarter, somehow, got even worse for Oregon: Jack Jones picked off Herbert, and set up with great field position, Daniels found Darby for a 26-yard score.

Herbert then got picked off again, this time by Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, and another Arizona State field goal made it 24-7 with under nine minutes left.

Then things got bonkers.

Oregon went 75 yards in three plays, with a screen pass to Johnny Johnson III going for 39 yards and leading to Habibi-Likio’s second touchdown of the night. After an Arizona State three and out, the Ducks needed just three plays to score again, this time via three Herbert-to-Johnson connections, including this 24-yard touchdown.

With his lead down to just 24-21, Daniels had another massive answer: an 81-yard dime to Brandon Aiyuk to all but seal the game:

Herbert would find Johnson for one late touchdown, but Arizona State recovered the onside kick and managed one first down to clinch it. The field storming came moments later.

“We should be playing like that all the time really, but we have something to prove,” Daniels said after the game. “We lost so many games in a row, so this win just felt different. They just happen to be the No. 6 ranked team. These guys owed them something from last year, took (ASU’s) chances from the Pac-12 Championship, so just came out there and played with a chip on their shoulders.”

The aftermath

Oregon bounced back with wins over Oregon State to finish the regular season and No. 5 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game, earning the conference’s Rose Bowl berth. In the Rose Bowl, Herbert ran for three scores, including the game-winning 30-yarder in the fourth quarter, to lift the Ducks over No. 8 Wisconsin. A few months later, the Chargers took Herbert sixth overall. He was the third quarterback selected, after Burrow (first to the Bengals) and Tagovailoa (fifth to the Dolphins).

The Sun Devils also finished their 2019 season strong, beating Arizona in the regular-season finale and Florida State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Daniels was the game’s MVP/

From there, though, it became a much different story for Daniels and for Arizona State. The Sun Devils played just four games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ahead of the 2021 season, the Sun Devils fell under NCAA investigation for alleged recruiting violations during the dead period. Daniels’ mother, Regina Jackson, was part of the investigation for allegedly paying for flights for recruits and those accompanying them on visits, as uncovered by Yahoo Sports. In 2024, the school agreed to disassociate with Jackson for five years.

Daniels and Arizona State went 8-5 in 2021, and Daniels said he would return to Tempe for 2022. Shortly thereafter, though, he entered the transfer portal; Sun Devils players infamously raided his locker after his announcement, and Daniels ended up at LSU, where he’d go on to win the Heisman Trophy after the 2023 season.

Both quarterbacks have had tremendous success early in their NFL careers, too. Herbert’s 21,093 passing yards through five seasons are most ever by a player through his first five years. Daniels led Washington to its first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991 in his first season. Both won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Now, nearly six years after that magical night in Tempe, they meet again.