After USC’s dominance on the Pac-12 ended last decade, Oregon and Stanford rose to take the place of the Trojans. Led by head coaches Chip Kelly and Jim Harbaugh, the Ducks and the Cardinal, respectively, battled each other for Pac-12 supremacy.
Now with different head coaches (David Shaw for Stanford, Willie Taggart for Oregon), Stanford and Oregon are in different roles than before but remain fully entrenched in the rivalry that has sprung from the intense bouts of the last seven years.
Stanford is on a three-game winning streak and coming off its first win over Utah in the David Shaw era. Oregon, with rookie coach Taggart, have been able to generate the offense that made it a threat when Kelley and Mariota were in Eugene.
Here’s a look at the last three meetings between these two teams:
November 12, 2016: Chryst cooks Oregon
In the midst of its first losing season since 2004 (the Ducks would end the year 4-8), Oregon encountered a Stanford team rejuvenated from the insertion of quarterback Keller Chryst and the play of an improved offensive line. Chryst played, arguably, his best game of his collegiate career with 258 passing yards and three touchdowns. He was joined by running back Christian McCaffrey who had a 135 rushing yards along with three rushing scores. The highlight of the game was McCaffrey’s 61-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. The combined efforts of Chryst and McCaffrey led the Stanford offense to 38 first half points.
Not to be outdone by the offense, the Cardinal defense forced four Ducks turnovers. Safety Justin Reid had an great game with a game-high 11 tackles and led Stanford with three tackles for loss. Linebacker Joey Alfieri caught both of Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert interceptions in the second and third quarters.
Stanford 52, Oregon 27
November 14, 2015: Hogan almost plays hero
The Cardinal, ranked seventh at the time, had the chance to get in the inside track to the College Football Playoff with a win against an Oregon squad that suffered from quarterback Marcus Mariota’s departure.
Fate wasn’t kind to Stanford on that day.
Stanford led 23-21 heading into the half but the troubles for the Cardinal began in the fourth quarter. Oregon had a 35-30 lead to start the fourth and Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan fumbled the ball near the 50-yard line. The Ducks used the opportunity to score a field goal and make it a 38-30 score.
On the next Stanford possession, Hogan got the offense into the redzone before fumbling the ball with 2:06 remaining in the game. The defense forced a Ducks punt with a minute left and Hogan again drove the offense to the redzone. This time, Hogan connected with tight end Greg Taboada to cut the lead to two. On the two-point conversion, Hogan delivered a pass, while getting hit, to tight end Austin Hooper. The pass was just out of the reach of Hooper and the Cardinal lost, ending their playoff hopes.
Oregon 38, Stanford 36
November 1, 2014: Mariota cuts down the Cardinal
Having a 5-4 record at the time, the Cardinal were relying on their dominance over Mariota (2-0) to carry them to record.
Mariota, on the other hand, had a different idea.
He had 343 total yards (passing and rushing) and four combined touchdowns as the Ducks dominated Stanford from beginning to end. Oregon scored touchdowns on its first three possession and the Cardinal couldn’t keep.
Hogan couldn’t find the endzone as he ended the game 21-of-29 for 237 passing yards and one interception. A more telling stat of the Stanford offense was that Hogan led the Cardinal in rushing with 42 rushing yards. The teams averaged 3.4 yards per carry which was poor compared to the yards per carry for running backs Remound Wright (4.5) and Kelsey Young (5.0) for that season.
Stanford spoiled Oregon’s chances to be in the championship game in the previous two meetings but couldn’t do it for the third time.
Stanford 16, Oregon 45
Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.