The Oregon Ducks overcame a slew of mistakes against the Stanford Cardinal Saturday at Autzen Stadium, driving 74 yards on 11 plays in the final two minutes for a 35-28 victory.
“We made enough mistakes today beyond whatever we’ve done all season in terms of really crucial mistakes. Luckily it didn’t hurt us,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti. “The bottom line was trust and belief and understanding that we could get this thing done. We were the better team and we found a way to win it and pulled it out at the end.”
Oregon (7-3, 5-2 Pac-10) beat a team with a winning record for the first time this season by besting the Cardinal (5-5, 4-3 Pac-10).
The Ducks led 27-20 and were backed up to their own 1-yard line when Oregon senior center Max Unger snapped the ball high and wide of sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Masoli for a safety to pull the Cardinal within 27-22.
Oregon has given up a safety in two consecutive games after not allowing one for nearly eight years.
Stanford took the ball and marched methodically down the field in 10 plays over the next six minutes and scored to take the lead with 2:18 remaining on a play that must have reminded Duck fans of Cameron Colvin’s fumble at the end of Oregon’s loss to California last season.
Cardinal running back Anthony Kimble took the handoff at the 3-yard line and darted off-tackle left. He was headed for the goal line pylon when senior rover Patrick Chung came from behind and knocked the ball loose, sending it rolling out-of-bounds just past the goal line
The initial ruling was that the ball left the field of play before crossing the plane, resulting in Stanford ball at the Oregon 1-yard line.
Upon review the call was overturned and Stanford was awarded a touchdown to take a 28-27 lead. Kimble rushed for 106 yards and the touchdown on 24 carries to lead the Cardinal.
The two-point conversion failed as quarterback Tavita Pritchard’s pass sailed out of the back of the end zone.
Andre Crenshaw took the ensuing kickoff back 19 yards and the Ducks were in business on their own 26-yard line with 2:12 remaining.
Masoli started the drive by connecting twice with senior side receiver Terence Scott for first downs. Scott is the only Oregon receiver to have caught a pass in all 10 games this year and was productive in the run game as well Saturday, rushing twice for 25 yards.
Masoli then hit senior running back Jeremiah Johnson with an 11-yard pass to set up a first-and-10 at the Cardinal 35-yard line. Johnson led all rushers with 135 yards on 15 carries, including a 41-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Two plays later, on third-and-eight form the Cardinal 33-yard line, Masoli dropped back to pass, then scrambled through the right side of the line and scampered 25 yards to the Stanford 8-yard line before being forced out of bounds.
Masoli ran 12 times for 46 yards on the day, while completing 11-of-22 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Jeff Maehl early in the first quarter.
On third-and-goal from the three, junior running back LeGarrette Blount smashed through the line for the score with six seconds left on the clock for a 33-28 Oregon lead. Then he punched in the two-point conversion in the same fashion for the final 35-28 margin. Blount ran for 90 yards and two scores as the Ducks compiled 307 rushing yards on the day. His two touchdowns gave him his sixth multi-touchdown game of the season. He sits just one rushing score shy of Saladin McCullough (15, 1996) for the Oregon single-season rushing touchdown record.
Morgan Flint made his first career start Saturday, and connected on a 37-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, the first of his college career. He would connect again from 26 yards and converted all three of his extra-point attempts.
Junior safety T.J. Ward, wearing Todd Doxey’s No. 29 this week, led the Ducks in tackles again with 14, including a tackle-for-loss. The defense accumulated 10 tackles-for loss in the game, with two apiece for linebackers Casey Matthews and Spencer Paysinger. Will Tukuafu grabbed the Ducks’ only sack.
A win is a win, said Bellotti, but the mistakes, including four fumbles and nine penalties for 80 yards, will give the Ducks plenty to think about this week.
“We’ve got to handle the football better. We’ve got to catch the ball. We’ve got to get aligned correctly. We cannot give up a fifty-yard kickoff return. We cannot fumble the ball on the kickoff. We can’t snap the ball over the quarterback’s head,” he said. “Have I covered all of them yet?”