On Saturday, Stanford football fell to #9 Oregon by a final score of 42-6. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix led the way for the Ducks by going 27-32 for 290 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions while wide receiver Troy Franklin had seven receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. Oregon running backs Jordan James and Bucky Irving each rushed for 88 yards while also scoring 1 touchdown. Stanford quarterback Justin Lamson went 11-20 for 106 yards while kicker Joshua Karty went 2-2 on his field goals from 37 and 53 yards out. Oregon improves to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Oregon at Stanford-Saturday, September 30th
VIDEO: Stanford Football Press Conference | Oregon
“Yeah, unbelievable team we played,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “Really good in all three phases. They're a legitimate team. We knew that coming in. They're well coached, really talented, very explosive.
“Our guys did some good things and we just got to convert more, you know, in the red zone. Haven't done a great job of that. But I am proud of how our guys competed. We'll move into the bye week and continue to get better and press towards Colorado.”
Stanford got the ball to start the game and thanks to Oregon’s kickoff going out of bounds, they started on their own 35 yard line. Tight end Benjamin Yurosek went right to work with a gain of eight yards to the 43 yard line on the opening play from scrimmage. Stanford would continue to have a series of short gains to get to the Oregon 25 yard line with a fresh set of downs. After a penalty on Oregon made it 1st and 5 from the 20 yard line, a holding penalty against Yurosek backed Stanford up 10 yards, which made it such that Stanford needed to settle for a 37 yard field goal attempt. Karty drained it, giving the Cardinal a 3-0 lead with 7:18 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s defense came out strong and held Oregon to a three and out, forcing the Ducks to punt on their opening drive. After a 55 yard punt by Ross James, Stanford had the ball back on their own 14 yard line with 5:55 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford did a nice job of controlling possession in their next drive as their possession actually carried over into the 2nd quarter. On 3rd and 7 from the 17 yard line, Lamson rushed up the middle for a gain of 12 yards to give the Cardinal a fresh set of downs. Lamson then found wide out Mudia Reuben for a 14 yard completion to the Oregon 45 yard line.
After getting sacked for a loss of eight yards, Lamson rushed for two yards to make it 3rd and 16 from the Stanford 49 yard line. Lamson then found Bryce Farrell for a 14 yard completion to set up 4th and 2 from the Oregon 37 yard line. Yurosek would have a gain of 10 yards to get the 1st down. Lamson then got sacked for a loss of seven yards. This ended up setting up a 53 yard field goal attempt by Karty to start the 2nd quarter as the 1st quarter ended after a one yard run by Lamson on 3rd and 19.
As expected, Karty drained the field goal, making it a 6-0 for the Cardinal with 14:55 to go in the 2nd quarter. To everyone’s amazement, the Cardinal were ahead and doing a great job of containing the Ducks.
Stanford’s defense really came to play from the start and that continued in the 2nd quarter as they forced another three and out from the Ducks. As a result, Stanford had the ball on their own 22 yard line with 13:30 to go in the 2nd quarter.
The next Stanford drive got off to a decent start as Stanford was able to move the chains once thanks to a couple of runs by Lamson. However, Ashton Daniels would get sacked for a loss of seven yards on 3rd and 8 from their own 34 yard line. This killed the drive, forcing Stanford to trot out punter Connor Weselman. Weselman’s punt was 42 yards and fair caught at the Oregon 31 yard line with 10:33 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Oregon went to work in their next drive as they moved the chains quickly as Nix ran for eight yards on a 3rd and 5 to the Oregon 44 yard line. Stanford then called for time as 9:08 was left in the half. Out of the time out, Jordan James rushed for 13 yards after which he popped for a 30 yard touchdown. 7-6 lead for Oregon with 8:15 to go in the half.
Stanford would start their next drive on their own 25 yard line after an Oregon touchback. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they were unable to get a first down as false start on the first play of the drive backed them up five yards. Aidan Flintoft would punt 47 yards to the Oregon 24 yard line with 6:25 to go in the half.
Oregon once again went to work as Bucky Irving immediately had a nice six yard gain on the opening play of the drive. Bo Nix then found Troy Franklin for a 15 yard completion before finding Franklin again for another 12 yards. After a loss of two yards, Nix found Traeshon Holden for an 11 yard completion before Irving rushed for 11 yards. This set up 1st and 10 from the Stanford 23 yard line. Nix then found Kenyon Sadiq for a six yard completion to set up 2nd and 4 from the 17 yard line. Irving then ran for 17 yards into the end zone, making it a 14-6 lead for Oregon with 2:23 to go. Oregon now had the momentum.
Stanford’s next drive was a three and out, resulting in Weselman punting it 42 yards and out of bounds to the Oregon 25 yard line with 40 seconds to go in the half. Oregon nearly scored again, but Stanford was able to force Oregon to settle for a 38 yard field goal attempt, which they missed. It remained a 14-6 lead for Oregon at halftime.
To Stanford’s credit, they made it a lot more competitive in the first half than many expected. They did a nice job of controlling possession and also getting some stops. That was the goal coming into the game and so far, they were holding their own.
“Yeah, I think we converted on some third downs and competed and kept them off the field, right?” Taylor said of why they were able to keep it close in the first half. “I don't know what the time of possession was in the first half, but they were on the field, off the field quite a bit.
“I think we went maybe three and out on them on the first two drives possibly, and then we had some longer drives. And then, you know, we just didn't put enough drives together in the second half and they were on the field a lot. You know you're playing with fire when you have a team that's that talented and they get that many opportunities in the second half.”
“Yeah, I think not making silly mistakes,” Lamson added of their first half success. “I mean we were locked in on our assignments and we were moving the ball, and that's what we got to do better job of all around. I think we did a good job of that in the first half for sure.”
The 3rd quarter is where the Ducks pulled away as their superior talent proved itself to be too much for the Cardinal to handle. In their opening drive of the quarter, Nix found Franklin for a 15 yard reception on 2nd and 7 from their own 23 yard line, getting the ball to the 38 yard line. On 3rd and 9 from their own 39 yard line, Oregon had another major gain as Nix found Terrance Ferguson for a 25 yard completion to move the chains. Nix then found Gary Bryant, Jr. for an 18 yard completion.
Stanford was able to force a 4th and 2 from their own 10 yard line, making Oregon go for it. Unfortunately for Stanford, Nix found Ferguson in the end zone to make it a 21-6 game with 10:43 to go in the half.
Stanford’s next drive would be a three and out as Oregon quickly got the ball back on their own 36 yard line with 9:58 to go in the 3rd quarter. As if they were trying to find how few of licks you need to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, Oregon quickly found the end zone in just four plays as Nix connected with Franklin for a 46 yard touchdown pass. With 8:54 to go in the 3rd, it was now a 28-6 lead for Oregon.
Stanford’s next drive began on their own 27 yard line after a 23 yard return by Farrell. It was a better drive for Stanford as Casey Filkins had a 16 yard reception while Elic Ayomanor had a 12 yard reception. This helped to set up a 4th and 1 from the Oregon 27 yard line. Stanford handed the ball off to Ryan Butler, but he wasn’t able to get the first down. Oregon had the ball back with 4:02 to go in the 3rd quarter.
The next Oregon drive wasn’t quite as quick as their previous one, but it was still pretty fast. Holden got things going with a 12 yard reception and later on in the drive on 3rd and 1, Jordan James exploded for a 37 yard gain to the Stanford five yard line. Nix then found Franklin for a touchdown, making it a 35-6 lead for Oregon with 1:43 to go in the 3rd.
“Yeah, I think we didn't maintain -- we weren't on the field enough on offense, and obviously they created some big plays and some chunk plays and we didn't do enough -- good enough job keeping them off the field,” Taylor said of the 3rd quarter. “With a team like that -- we did in the first half. They've blown pretty much everybody out in the first half. I was proud of our guys that we were in the game and close. We weren't able to sustain many drives on offense, whether it's making plays at wide receiver, making throws, protecting, running the football, we just were not able to really sustain any drives.”
Stanford’s next drive began on their own 35 yard line and it would bleed into the 4th quarter as a pass interference call against Oregon moved the chains. On 4th and 3 from their own 41 yard line, Lamson was unable to move the chains as a pass to Reuben was incomplete. Oregon had the ball back with 14:14 to go in the game.
To start the next drive for the Ducks, Irving had a quick 14 yard gain to move the chains. On 2nd and 4 from the Stanford 28 yard line, Nix found Bryant, Jr. for a 19 yard completion after which he found Holden for a nine yard touchdown pass. 42-6 lead for Oregon with 11:33 to go.
From there, Oregon won 42-6 as neither team scored the rest of the game. After a quiet three quarters, E.J. Smith was able to move the chains a bit and get things going in the backfield for the Cardinal, but not enough to lead to any points.
“Yeah. I mean, I think EJ came in at the end and did some really good things,” Taylor said. “Loved to see him get the ball and make something happen. Open competition really at every position. That doesn't change. But was happy to see EJ make some plays, break some tackles, and make some people miss.”
Stanford truly battled hard in this game and can hold their heads high on that front. They do appear to be making progress, but Oregon in the end showed why they are a top ten team in the nation.
“Yeah, they're a super versatile defense,” Lamson said of Oregon. “They showed a lot of different fronts, a lot of different coverages. Their guys are athletic. You've kind of seen it all year, they hold teams to less than 20 points.
“So I think we just -- there is a point where we got to end up making big plays. Contested catches; I got to break some tackles; one-on-one. Same thing with everybody, and I'm sure any player would tell you that.
“Against a good team like that you kind of got to make those big plays to win the game, and we just didn't do that today.”
At this point, all that Stanford can do is move on from this game, learn whatever lessons they can, and stay motivated to get better and better with each game. There’s still plenty of football to be played this season and with a bye week coming up, they have some time to rest and regroup.
On that note, Stanford’s next game will be on Friday, October 13th at Colorado. That will begin at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN and KNBR 1050 AM radio.
“Yeah, yeah, so we'll -- we will evaluate the tape,” Taylor said looking ahead to the bye week. “Kind of a regular day after the game, and then they get Monday off, that's their day off, and then Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday we'll get practices in.
“Not a lot of the contact, but we got to get better. We got to continue to press and get better and start working on Colorado. Obviously Colorado has a game to play next week; we do not. So combination of getting better and getting guys healthy that have been injured and focusing and getting a jump on Colorado.
“Then evaluating the things we do well and things that we maybe don't do well. As coaches got to kind of figure out the best plan to give our guys a chance to succeed…Again, I love this team. I love these guys just because they just continue to compete and give everything and get back the next day and they're ready to compete again. These guys will continue to compete and we'll have our opportunities this year.”
“Man, I think it's about getting everybody healthy first of all, kind of game planning for Colorado,” Lamson added. “We know they're a good team, a very explosive team. You know, just getting right back -- there is one thing about our team, is we work every single day. Whether it's a win or loss we're going to come in. Whether it's a lift, a meeting, we're going to be dialed in.
“We are just going to go about our game plan, trust the coaches. They been putting us in good positions. It's on us. We're going to be just fine…Yeah, I mean -- yeah, kind of middle of the season, so a little bit of a break, mental break and physical break, I would say it's a pretty good time for us. Going into a good game like Colorado, it only helps.”
Note: Troy Taylor provided an update on the status of Ashton Daniels after the game. He said he thinks he’ll be ok and that Daniels said he felt ok. Daniels was injured in the 2nd quarter and did not return.
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