Oregon coach Mike Bellotti and his team probably couldn’t have scripted their home, season and conference opener much better.
Saturday, the No. 21 Oregon Ducks pounded the Stanford Cardinal on the ground, through the air, defensively and with special teams, in a 48-10 rout in front of 58,450 at Autzen Stadium, a record fourth-largest crowd in stadium history.
For the Ducks, the team’s only blemish was its nine penalties costing them 120 yards. The penalties led to Stanford’s only touchdown of the game.
“I’m frustrated by our penalties,” Bellotti said. “There’s an old saying that, about for every true freshman — every redshirt freshman that play — you can assume the same amount of penalties. That came true today.
“But I was pleased overall with our offense, our defense and our special teams.”
With many question marks after losing much of its senior leadership and production from last year’s 10-2 campaign, the Ducks had many answers against the Cardinal.
Offensively Oregon displayed its balance by gaining 298 yards on the ground and 236 through the air behind an experienced offensive line.
Highly touted running back Jonathan Stewart had a breakout game and nearly matched his entire offensive output from a year ago with 168 yards on 22 carries. He gained 188 yards as a freshman last season.
“The spread offense is going to be hard to contain,” Stewart said. “It was a new offense last year and everyone had to learn it and believe it in. Since we had that last year … we’re way more ready.”
While Stewart went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter after a 21-yard run for a first down, X-rays following the game were negative, and he is not expected to miss any time.
That’s good news for Oregon because Stewart was vital Saturday. He averaged 7.6 yards per touch and was used successfully even on multiple third-and-long situations.
“He makes us look good,” center Enoka Lucas said. “Coach gives us the play. We’re third-and-12 and we think we’re going to pass the ball but coach gives us a running play. Snoop (Stewart) is just that kind of guy, he wants it.”
Stewart was complemented by running back Jeremiah Johnson, who rushed for 79 yards on 10 carries and junior quarterback Dennis Dixon was efficient in Oregon’s short passing game, throwing for 236 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-30 passing.
“I wasn’t really sure how they were going to play us,” Oregon offensive coordinator Gary Crowton said of Stanford. “They really didn’t want us to throw the ball, and they pushed everybody outside. Being able to run the ball, helped us with our screen plays and open things up.”
Defensively, Oregon’s defense shut down the Stanford attack. The Cardinal managed 324 yards, but only 100 on the ground against a defensive line that started two new players inside.
One of those players was defensive tackle Jeremy Gibbs, a transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, who finished with five tackles, two tackles for a loss including a sack, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal attempt, which was returned 72 yards for a touchdown by A.J. Tuitele.
“It feels good to get one under my belt,” the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Gibbs said. “I felt I played pretty good.”
Oregon also had questions in the secondary after losing two seniors last season, but after a shaky start, junior Jackie Bates, redshirt freshman Walter Thurmond and junior transfer Matthew Harper settled down and, despite three pass interference penalties, stifled senior quarterback Trent Edwards and the Cardinal passing game that featured seasoned veteran Mark Bradford and 6-foot-7 Evan Moore.
“Those guys are big physical guys and they wanted to attack us down the field,” said Bates who outjumped Moore on a fade pass in the end zone early in the game. “I think we made a pretty good statement today.”
Oregon opened the scoring in the first quarter after a near disastrous start. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Dennis Dixon put the ball on the turf after attempting to flick the ball to Bryan Paysinger on a misdirection play.
Stanford recovered inside Oregon’s 20 but the play was overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. From there, Oregon drove 62 yards, highlighted by Stewart’s 16-yard run to the Stanford 25, which set up a 35-yard field goal by Paul Martinez.
Stanford tied the game with a 34-yard field goal by Aaron Zagory. The score was set up almost entirely by the arm of Edwards.
Edwards completed three of seven passes, including two to Moore for 25 yards and another for 28 yards to the Ducks’ 14-yard line. Thurmond was also flagged for a pass interference on the drive.
Following Zagory’s field goal, Oregon responded with 14 unanswered points thanks to some favorable field position. Stewart returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards into Stanford territory to set up a drive that ended with Stewart’s one-yard touchdown run to put Oregon up 10-3 in the second quarter. Stewart finished the half with 123 yards on 16 carries.
The Ducks started their next drive at the Stanford 40 after a 20-yard punt return by Johnson. Two plays and 51 seconds later, Oregon led 17-3. First Dixon connected with wide receiver Garren Strong for a 29-yard catch and run.
Then, Dixon hit Jaison Williams in traffic near the end zone and Williams muscled his way through two defenders for a 15-yard touchdown.
Stanford responded with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Bradford on a blown coverage to put the Cardinal back within a touchdown.
But that was all the Stanford offense could muster against the Oregon defense. By halftime the Cardinal managed just 26 yards rushing and relied almost exclusively on Edwards to move the ball. Edwards finished the day 20-of-34 for 224 yards on one touchdown.
Oregon closed the half on a 10-0 run. First Oregon drove 62 yards – 49 coming on the ground – and scored on Stewart’s three-yard touchdown run. The Cardinal fumbled at their own 12 on the ensuing possession and, with backup quarterback Brady Leaf in the game, Oregon tacked on another Martinez field goal to take a 27-10 lead into the break.
Oregon’s ground game continued to be effective in the third quarter. Dennis Dixon scored from two yards out on third and goal when he cut back and escaped by two defenders to give Oregon a commanding 34-10 lead. That drive was highlighted by Johnson’s 52 yard run in which he cut back across the field from his own sideline and took the ball inside the Stanford 20.
Johnson added a three-yard touchdown in the fourth and Tuitele’s return off a blocked kick capped the scoring.
Next week Oregon travels to Fresno State to take on a Bulldog team that is 1-0 on the year after a 28-19 victory against Nevada.