Senior Josh Line walks off the field at Autzen Stadium on Saturday after Stanford ended Oregon’s 23-game home-winning streak. The 49-42 loss was the Ducks’ first defeat at Autzen since Oct. 11, 1997.
On an afternoon that began cloudy and ended sunny, Oregon’s sunny season was suddenly clouded.
Before Saturday, the fifth-ranked Ducks were 6-0 and aiming for a realistic shot at playing for the national championship game in the Rose Bowl.
But after Stanford waltzed into Autzen Stadium and outscored Oregon 21-0 in the fourth quarter en route to a 49-42 upset victory, all the now 11th-ranked Ducks could do was scratch their heads and wonder.
Wonder what might have been had they extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 24 games in front of a sold-out Homecoming crowd of 46,021.
But now, any chance of a national title? Dashed. Joey Harrington earning the coveted Heisman Trophy? Most likely gone. And that Autzen win streak? Rewind to zero.
Because unlike the previous 23 home games, the Ducks (6-1 overall, 3-1 Pacific-10 Conference) couldn’t come through in the clutch when it needed to the most to extend their magic carpet ride.
“You can only play with a dog so long ’til it bites you,” Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman said. “And we got bit today.”
Oregon entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 42-28 lead, but the tide turned decidedly in Stanford’s (4-1, 3-1) direction when the Ducks’ first two drives of the quarter ended with Jose Arroyo getting his punts blocked.
The Ducks dodged a bullet with the first block, as they held Stanford on a fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line. They weren’t as lucky on the next block as the Cardinal recovered the punt on the 17-yard line and on their first play, back-up quarterback Chris Lewis found receiver Teyo Johnson in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown.
“It was unfortunate because we thought we had fixed the problem from the first blocked punt,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
Stanford didn’t stop there. On the ensuing kickoff, trailing 42-35, Stanford’s Mike Biselli stunned the Ducks by kicking a picture-perfect onside kick that floated in the air long enough for teammate Colin Branch to haul it in.
“We knew coming into the game that our special teams were going to be a force, and they didn’t disappoint,” Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham said.
From there, the Cardinal drove 40 yards on eight plays, capped by a Kerry Carter fourth-and-goal, one-yard touchdown run. The extra point kick was blocked, though, leaving Oregon ahead 42-41.
With the clock ticking down with less than five minutes to play, the Ducks appeared to be in control. But on a critical third-and-one, the Ducks chose to pass rather than try to run for the first down.
Harrington dropped back to pass. He spotted a receiver. He attempted to throw, but as he did, Stanford’s Tank Williams drilled him from behind, causing the ball to flutter into the hands of Stanford’s Marcus Hoover for the interception.
“Not my call,” said Harrington, who completed 22-of-41 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. “You can second guess all you want. We tried hard.”
The interception proved costly, as Stanford took over on the Oregon 33-yard line and burned the game clock down to 1:15. The Cardinal finally did give the ball back to the Ducks, but only after Carter picked up the last three of his 64 yards and the last of his four touchdowns to give Stanford the 49-42 edge.
With the crowd chanting his name, Harrington strolled onto the field with the game on the line, as he has so often, but connected on only three of the nine passes during the last-minute drive, proving he was mortal and ending the game.
“We tried for some home runs, but didn’t get them,” Bellotti said.
Really, though, the game shouldn’t have came down to the final moments.
Oregon scored on its first three drives of the game and had its offense clicking. Harrington’s four-yard touchdown pass to Howry, 15-yard scoring dart to tight end Justin Peelle and 39-yard bomb to a sprawled-out Howry in the end zone gave the Ducks the early 21-14 edge.
Then, out went Stanford senior starting quarterback Randy Fasani with a sprained right knee, and the odds were piled against the Cardinal even more to pull off the road win.
To top that off, the Ducks were also benefited by Howry’s 69-yard punt return for a touchdown and Onterrio Smith’s blazing 96-yard kickoff return for a score.
But Oregon never put Stanford away, as Lewis, the Cardinal’s back-up quarterback, improved as the game went on and led his team to the win.
“I don’t think it was what they did, rather than what we did not do,” Bellotti said. “The biggest thing is we can’t let Stanford beat us twice. We have to come back from this.”
Oregon still has a lot to play for, as the Pac-10 race for the Fiesta Bowl is wide open. The Ducks face the two undefeated teams, Washington State and UCLA, in the coming weeks, and do so on the road.
“We can’t let this one game get us down,” said Howry, who matched the Oregon record for single-game all-purpose yards with 338. “Our team goal was to go undefeated, and this puts a damper on everything.
“All we can do now is win out and hope things fall into place.”