Ducks go down at Stanford

Stanford did more than knock off #7 Oregon and put itself back in the Pac-10 running Saturday, they beat the hottest team in college football.

Not many picked Oregon to beat USC last weekend, and perhaps even fewer predicted a Stanford win this week.

But Stanford (6-3, 5-2 Pac-10) executed a perfect game plan and came through to record an impressive 51-42 victory over the Ducks (7-2, 5-1).

“I'm just proud of my players,” Cardinal Coach John Harbaugh said down on the field after the game, surrounded by the Stanford student body, “Our team expressed who we are today.”

The Stanford offense was the story of the day, scoring on 9 of their 13 possessions including 6 touchdowns and 3 field goals. Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart was as advertized, providing a continuous stream of tough, bruising runs. He broke 100 yards rushing in the first half, and finished with a school record 223 yards and three touchdowns. By the end of the game, he looked winded, sore and exhausted, but still wanted one last rush to ice the game for the Cardinal.

Perhaps more surprising was the performance Andrew Luck, the freshman quarterback from Houston. Much is expected of Luck in the future, but even the most diehard Cardinal fan would not have predicted his first half performance. Succeeding where Jake Locker and Matt Barkley had failed, Luck picked apart the Ducks inexperienced secondary in the first two quarters.

While he only had 12 completions on the day, two of those were touchdown passes, and he averaged an eye-popping 21 yards per throw. His ability to throw the deep ball really put Stanford in the driving seat early on. Throughout the game Luck did a great job of recognizing different coverages, and most importantly only threw one bad pass which was dropped by Spencer Paysinger. His poise was also excellent, often releasing the ball just before getting hit.

Oregon's offense responded well to playing constant catch-up. After a slow start, they ended up with 580 total yards. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli actually had one of the best days passing the football in a Duck uniform. He completed 22 of 38 passes, with a number of drops, for 343 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Ducks rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns, and cutting the Stanford lead from 20 to 6. But in the end, their defense's inability to stop the power running game of Toby Gerhart throughout the second half meant Oregon always had too ground to make up and not enough time to make it happen. A Nate Whitaker field goal with 11 seconds sealed one of the biggest wins in the history of Stanford football.