The mighty Quack Attack (8-1) is in Palo Alto to give a graduate level course in football to the The Cardinal (9-0). With 13:22 left in Q1, Ducks have ball. Some miscarriage of Justice has resulted in Duck punt. The Cardinal now has ball on their own seven yard line. Stanford moves it to 19, gets first down. Field is slippery. 3d down Stanford on 25 9:33 left 1Q. Stanford punt (2nd of game). Quack Attack takes over at Duck 45. Stanford defense is very tough, and it's a disaster -- broken play and sack. Ugh! When will this unjust treatment of the Mighty Oregon Waterfowl end?
Anyway, 0-0 7:43 left in 1Q. Stanford just gets the 1st 1st down of the game, now a broken play and blocked pass on down, almost an interception. 3rd and 9.
INTERCEPTION OREGON! Run back to Stanford 20, Andrew Luck, Stanford QB saves the TD. Oregon advances to 11, but open field tackle on 2nd down stops the Oregon run. Now it's 1st and Goal, with James running to the 3. After a stopped run ... it's a TOUCHDOWN PASS for Oregon! And a TWO-POINT CONVERSION on a pass. 8-0 for the Quack Attack.
After the kickoff, Stanford advances the ball to midfield with a series of brilliant running plays. Is there a fumble? Does Oregon recover? Aarrrgggh -- it's a hideous replay delay. 1:28 left in 1Q. Was the man down or not? Supposedly the ball carrier is a "wildcat back". What if that were "wild puddie tat back"? DANG, not a fumble, runner was down. 2nd and 1 at Oregon 44. Looks like a 1st down Stanford.
Stanford continues to advance on ground with several splendid running plays. They don't look like they can be stopped, and are down to about the Oregon 20 when the 1Q ends.
Now for some stupid ads. At least there's none of those Cialis bathtubs.
2Q starts, Stanford reaches a 1st down at Oregon 18. TOUCHDOWN PASS Stanford! 8-6. Will Stanford go for the 2 point conversion? No. The extra point kick goes wide, so it's 8-6, with the Quack on the top of the stack.
Oregon offense returns to field on their own 15. roll out short pass, small gain. Oregon's running game is struggling. Stanford D very tough. Complete 1st down, but a penalty -- holding? Yep -- but on DEFENSE, while ball in air, 10 yard advance. Two good running plays in a row yield an Oregon first down. Now a long roll out pass, incomplete.
LEMICHAEL JAMES BREAKS THROUGH AND IT'S A 57 yard TOUCHDOWN RUN for Oregon. With extra point, it's 15-6, Oregon.
After an excellent run back on the kick off, Stanford has the ball on their own 34 yard line. After a nearly broken play, Luck passes for a 1st down. Stanford continues with a powerful running game, maybe Oregon is getting better at defending it, as one play is stopped for a loss. The 3rd down pass for a conversion fails, it's 4th and 6, Stanford punts (3rd time in game I think), but it lands in the end zone and Oregon will take it over on their own 20. Some hideous ads again.
Horse collar tackle ruins a good Stanford defensive play, now Oregon is advancing but DeAnthony Thomas FUMBLES the ball and Stanford recovers. AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!
Stanford moves up within field goal range and boots one in, so its 15-9, Oregon. Oregon picks up from Oregon 30, a beautiful almost dropped pass yields a quick first down. LeMichael James runs for a first down -- is Oregon starting to read the defense? There seems to be some footing problems. Two plays produce losses for Oregon. It's 4th and 7 now. Oregon's going for it! Quick pass to DeAnthony Thomas, and he BLASTS INTO THE ENDZONE for TOUCHDOWN OREGON. With extra point, it's 22-9, Oregon.
Now Stanford is back, and with a beautiful pass, they advance to midfield, and continues further to Oregon 33 or so with passing game. Only :53 seconds to go, Stanford time out. Some nerds at Stanford are measuring forces with the player's mouthpieces. Now Stanford within 15 yard line, with 45 seconds, and 1st down. A FINE THROW AND IT'S TOUCHDOWN STANFORD! Extra point is good, and its 22-16 Oregon.
18 seconds left, Oregon isn't giving up trying to score. Two quick passes, but there's no chance to score. HALFTIME.
Stanford kicks off to Oregon, Huff runs it out to Oregon 26. Short QB run, hard hit at end. Screen pass to James, 1st down. NOW IT'S A PASS TO JOSH HUFF AND A LONG RUN FOLLOWED BY A TOUCHDOWN OREGON, with extra point, it's 29-16.
Now it's 13:24 left in 3Q, Stanford tries to run from 35, gains on 2 downs, it's 3rd and 2, and Stanford QB (Luck) is stacked, 4th and 9, off-sides moves it back to 4th and 14. Stanford gets lucky and recovers an Oregon fumble on a called fair chance. AARRGGHHHH!
Now Stanford is down to Oregon 35. This is a very bad break for Oregon. Incomplete on 1st down, that's good, because it would have been a TD Stanford. Now it's 3rd and 6. I'm thinking pass, I was right, incomplete, now I think Stanford has to go for it on 4th down. But they have FG unit out, and it hooks off towards Cupertino, Stanford had a good chance here, but didn't get anything out of it. Now to some hideous car ad.
Oregon takes over with about 9:30 left in 3Q. Three unproductive downs, excellent defense by Stanford, punt to Stanford, fair catch at Stanford 31. Now Stanford really needs a TD, as the announcer stated, I don't think they're going to beat Oregon with field goals.
But Stanford QB is hit hard on first down, and fumbles. Stanford gets a break when Oregon's first pass into endzone is called back as incomplete. GRRRRRRRR. Now what's this, some penalty on the 2nd down run. Offsetting personal fouls, 3rd down. Come on, Oregon! 3rd and 10. Good pass, they are very close End zone, there's a quick play, Stanford isn't even set up yet on their defense and a run by LeMichael James and TOUCHDOWN OREGON. so it's 36-16 Oregon!
Oh, Gawd, it's those awful Jared's jewelry ads -- did that company come straight from Hell or is it a franchise?
Oregon's kicker slips, and the kick is short. Stanford will begin from their own 30, with 7:36 left in 3Q. Now Stanford is using the pass on first two plays, a penalty makes up for an incomplete pass, and Stanford is down to Oregon 42. Stanford shifts to the run and they have two good plays and are at Oregon 28. There's broken play, Luck runs for it, slips before he could make much yardage. Another slip on a short pass, incomplete, it's 3 and 6, Stanford must convert with 20 points down. They do with a pass.
Stanford makes it down to Oregon 11, they manage to move to down to 1st and goal, now they are right at the door. 1st down, run stopped, another idiot offsides penalty on Oregon. DUMB DUMB DUMB. Now it's a short pass and TOUCHDOWN STANFORD, with 5:03 left in 3Q. Extra point makes it 36-23.
Oregon has the ball and they are moving it fast with the run. LeMichael James is looking very good. They are finding the weak points in the Stanford defense it looks like by now. The running game looks very very good. Again, the fast moving offense catches Stanford making an illegal substitution at the end of the third quarter, with Oregon coming close to the endzone with a 1st down.
4th Quarter.
At 36-23, Stanford is still capable of winning this game, but on this drive, they must stop the Oregon's offense, which is quick to run plays, fast and intelligent. But Oregon hammers it in for a TOUCHDOWN, which with the conversion makes it 43-23.
Now Stanford must take risks, and they do, advancing the ball rapidly by brilliant passing. Now they are down at the 7 yard line with 1st down. A shovel pass doesn't work, now it's 2nd down, and QB Luck is sacked at the 9 yard line. But Stanford manages to get a TOUCHDOWN and a 1 point conversion, which keeps them in the game at 43-30 with over 9 minutes left to play.
Now Oregon is trying to advance the ball, they are taking their time. So they make it down to the 23 yard line and it's 4th down. So Oregon brings on the field goal unit. If successful, this means Stanford will need more than two TDs to win. And they have it, so its 46-30 Oregon. Stanford has never led in this game, and once Oregon scored, they were no closer than 8-6.
Now Stanford takes the field, they must pass, but this time the risky game fails, as Oregon INTERCEPTS for a DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN, and with the conversion, it's 53-30. Odds are looking very long for Stanford.
And there's a fumble on the kick off, and Oregon's kicker (!!!!!) recovers the fumble. Oh man, this is turning into a disaster for Stanford. Now Chip Kelly is going to use as much time as possible on every play, with only 3:35 left in the game. Kelly has really got Oregon into management of the time spent on the plays. Now there's a fumble but a recovery by Oregon. It's 4th and 17. They're going for it, a good run, but Stanford stops it short of a first down, and brings its offense back on the field with 1:55 left to go. But there's a pass, followed by a Stanford fumble, Oregon recovers, and there's a penalty, with a personal foul called against Oregon after the play. (DUMB!).
But now it's pretty much over. Oregon just downs the ball on each play rather than risk injury, and the game ends 53-30 with Oregon.
Overall, Stanford lost the game on offensive errors (interceptions and fumbles), and they were unable to contain the Oregon offense after the first quarter.