Ducks Fell Stanford, 38-36, Remain Alive In North

Saturday, November 14

Stanford, Calif.

4:30 PM

University of Oregon

7-3 , 5-2

Stanford

8-2 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Oregon

Stanford

Photo by: GoDucks.com

11/15/15 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com

STANFORD, Calif. — Oregon kept its faint Pac-12 title hopes alive for one more week by winning 38-36 at No. 7 Stanford on Saturday night, the Ducks' fourth straight victory.

How It Happened: The matchup of Oregon's razzle-dazzle and Stanford's brute force developed as expected. The Ducks used big plays like a 49-yard Royce Freeman run, a 75-yard Charles Nelson rush and a 47-yard Darren Carrington reception to produce three touchdowns in the first half. Though the Ducks employed new defensive looks featuring four-man and five-man fronts, the Cardinal still pounded out 23 points for a 23-21 halftime lead.

The game turned in the third quarter. Oregon opened the period by blitzing Stanford with a five-play, 68-yard drive in 1:29 that ended in a 19-yard Freeman touchdown run. The Ducks held the Cardinal to a field-goal attempt that was missed, and while Oregon followed with a punt, the UO defense then held Stanford to its first punt of the night. Vernon Adams Jr. completed his ninth straight pass to open the game on a 49-yard wheel route to Taj Griffin that put the Ducks up 35-23, the first double-digit lead for either team in the game.

Stanford wasn't about to take its first conference loss of the season without a fight. The Cardinal made it 35-30 early in the fourth quarter, then forced a punt. But Stanford muffed exchanges on its next two drives, allowing Oregon to tack on a precious field goal and kill some clock. Stanford had one last chance to extend the game, and scored with 10 seconds left. But a potential game-tying two-point conversion was broken up by UO linebacker Joe Walker, and the Ducks prevailed.

Who Stood Out: Adams finished 10-of-12 for 205 yards with two touchdowns, and Freeman rushed for 105 yards and a score. Four defenders finished with double-digit tackles, including Rodney Hardrick (11), Reggie Daniels (10), DeForest Buckner (10) and Walker (10). In the kicking game, Aidan Schneider put the eventual game-winning points on the board with his lone field goal, and Matt Wogan averaged a perfect 65 yards on his seven kickoffs, with five touchbacks.

Not to be overlooked was an impressive effort by running back Kani Benoit that proved vital to the outcome. In the first half, Adams was sacked and fumbled, with Stanford returning the ball 51 yards to the UO 9-yard line. Benoit tackled the ballcarrier there, and the defense forced the Cardinal to settle for a field goal, a huge swing in what ended up being a two-point win.

What It Means: Oregon (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) won the first of the four games that needed to break its way in November for the Ducks to remain in the Pac-12 hunt. The Ducks still must beat USC and Oregon State, and get a Stanford loss to California, to win the Pac-12 North and advance to the conference title game.

Notable: Adams entered the game as the career leader in passing yards among Division I players with 11,906, and surpassed 12,000 during the first quarter. … For the first time this season, the UO defense used the same starting 11 in consecutive games. … The travel squad was largely unchanged from the road trip to ASU, with Haniteli Lousi and Jarret LaCoste on hand in place of Calvin Throckmorton and Christian French. Both French and Byron Marshall were on hand Saturday but not in uniform and not members of the 70-player travel squad.

Up Next: The Ducks begin a two-game homestand to close out the regular season next Saturday against USC (12:30 p.m., ESPN).