In addition to linebacker Shayne Skov being named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, redshirt junior tight end Zach Ertz was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and fifth-year senior punter Daniel Zychlinski was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week. In addition, Ertz was named one of three finalists for the John Mackey Award.
With just about everything on the line, three-touchdown underdog No. 13 Stanford (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) hopes to knock off No. 2 Oregon (10-0, 7-0) tomorrow night. As if the game didn’t have enough of a David-Goliath feel to it, the Cardinal will have to pull off the upset in Autzen, where the crowd noise can grow so loud that the pellets on the turf start to shake.
Oregon opened as a 24-point favorite on the basis of perhaps the most efficient offense in the last 20 years (this is where Baylor fans and RGIII cry fowl). Without question, the Ducks should win this game on paper.
The mood was surprisingly relaxed at Stanford head coach David Shaw’s weekly press conference yesterday. In many ways, Shaw sounded like he had a team with nothing to lose on Saturday. When casually asked how he was doing as he sat down, he replied, “After the last 48 hours of watching Oregon film, how would you feel?”
At the moment, my conflict centers around the unfortunate truth that the Oregon Ducks football team is the greatest show on turf since “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Chip Kelly has assembled a team of athletic freaks who race up and down the field at an unbelievable clip, and then someone let him recruit a quarterback who can actually throw the ball. Bullocks.
Overcoming four turnovers and a nine-point deficit with the third quarter winding down, No. 13 Stanford (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) stormed back to upend No. 16 Oregon State (7-2, 5-2) 27-23 on an emotional Senior Day and kept is conference championship and Rose Bowl aspirations alive.
Stanford (7-2, 6-1 Pac-12) weathered a 23-point run by the Beavers (7-2, 5-2) and Hogan rallied the offense with two second-half touchdowns as the No. 14 Cardinal knocked off No. 11 Oregon State to set up a very important showdown with No. 3 Oregon next from Eugene.
With one of the biggest football games in Stanford history upon us, we asked Patrick Malee of Oregon’s The Daily Emerald and Jack Blanchat of The Daily to tell us what might happen if their worst fears are realized on Saturday night.