Stanford's Chris Owusu returned the opening kick off 77 yards and the Oregon Ducks spent the rest of the day playing catch-up to the Cardinal , eventually falling 51-42 for their second loss of the season.
Although the Oregon defense forced the Cardinal to settle for a field goal following Owusu's return, the Ducks were never able to contain the Stanford offense. Running back Toby Gerhart powered through the Oregon defense for 223 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries. Freshman quarterback Andrew Luck took advantage of Oregon's preoccupation with the Stanford running back to complete 12 of 20 passes for 251 yards and a pair of scores.
With Gerhart the focus of Oregon's attention, Luck employed the play action to great effect, finding receivers locked in one-on-one match-ups down field and the Stanford quarterback threaded the needle with tight spirals for completions of 11 and 12 yards to WR Ryan Whelan to move the Cardinal into Oregon territory. Another completion of 25 yards to Chris Owusu put Stanford on the Oregon 2-yard line, and Gerhart wasn't to be stopped from there, giving the Cardinal a 10-0 lead.
Oregon's offense responded with some big plays of their own. Jamere Holland took a Jeremiah Masoli hand off on an end around for 20 yards to open up the Stanford defense and three plays later, LaMichael James bolted 60 yards through the middle of the Cardinal defense to put the Ducks on the scoreboard.
After Oregon's nest possession stalled, the Cardinal offense took the field on their own 20. A pass interference call, a 17-yard pass completion to Coby Fleener over the middle and a steady dose of Gerhart - rushes of 5, 10, 13, 11, 1 and 4 yards - pushed the Stanford lead to 17-7. Until the late stages of the fourth quarter, that 10 point margin would be as close as Oregon would get.
Stanford pushed the lead to 24-7 on their next series. Luck picked apart Oregon's secondary with completions of 40 and 27 yards to move the Cardinal downfield, capped by his 8-yard touchdown strike to Jim Dray.
An exchange of fumbles gave Oregon possession on the Stanford 29-yard line early in the second quarter and Jeremiah Masoli quickly converted the opportunity with a touchdown pass to Jeffrey Maehl, narrowing the lead to 10 points at 24-14.
But as they would all day long, the Stanford offense controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock, moving down field on the strength of Gerhart's powerful running and Luck's accurate throwing. A 39-yard completion to Ryan Whelan put the Cardinal once again on the doorstep and after Gerhart was stoned on the Oregon one-yard line, fullback Owen Marecic pounded it in for a 31-14 halftime lead.
Oregon received the second half kick off and Masoli directed a 6 play, 86 yard drive to again bring the Ducks to within 10 points. After a 24-yard completion to TE Ed Dickson, the Oregon quarterback found Jamere Holland streaking behind the Cardinal defense and hit him in stride for the score.
But after an exchange of possessions, Stanford once again found traction with the ground game. Gerhart rambled 31 yards through the Oregon defense and with the Ducks still on their heels, Luck again found Owusu free in the Oregon secondary and fired a strike to give the Cardinal a 38-21 lead.
Trading haymaker for haymaker, Oregon answered with a touchdown drive of 82 yards in six plays, the biggest gain a 55 completion from Masoli to LaMichael James swinging out of the backfield giving the Ducks possession on the Stanford three-yard line. Masoli's keeper spun the scoreboard numbers once again,
Needing a defensive stop as the third quarter wound down, Oregon was not able to slow down Gerhart. Rushes of six and eleven yards moved the Cardinal into midfield. Luck completed a pair of passes to move Stanford to the Oregon 17-yard line. Taking the handoff and bouncing to the right, Gerhart carried four or five Ducks into the end zone, pushing the Cardinal lead to 45-28.
Although the Ducks were able to hold Stanford to a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter, the margin was too great to overcome. Masoli and the Ducks managed two touchdown drives to bring Oregon within six points with 2:38 remaining, the second of those Stanford field goals sealed the victory for the Cardinal.
Both teams posted prodigious offensive numbers. Oregon compiled 570 total yards, Stanford racked up 505.
Masoli finished the day with 334 yards passing and three scores on 21/37 and added 55 yards rushing. LaMichael James picked up 125 yards on 18 carries.
But it was Gerhart - or Oregon's inability to stop Gerhart - that stage for Oregon's first loss in Pac-10 play. Despite the loss, at 5-1 (7-2 overall) Oregon still controls their own fate in the conference race. The Ducks will attempt to get back on the winning track when they host Arizona State next Saturday at Autzen. Game time is expected to be announced on Monday.
