In recent years, Oregon and Stanford have sustained a brutal rivalry, both competing for the top spot in the Pac-12 North. In the past, their matchups have determined which team would represent the North in the Pac-12 Championship.
Yet this year, the showdown won’t come with the same anticipation. Neither team has met pre-season expectations and neither will be playing in the championship. Stanford fell to third and Oregon to second to last in the Pac-12 North.
Despite snapping a five-game losing streak after defeating ASU the week prior, last week the Ducks suffered an embarrassing 45-20 loss to USC. Stanford, on the other hand, has won its last two games, though they were against Arizona and Oregon State.
Here’s how the teams stack-up:
Oregon offense vs. Stanford defense
Oregon has long been an offensive power, ranking first in total offense in the Pac-12 since 2010 when the conference was established. This year has been shaky as the Ducks are currently only ranked fourth. Some of that shakiness has been alleviated after the emergence of true freshman quarterback Justin Herbert. He started the last three games, and has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 926 yards, which ties the Oregon record for touchdown passes in a three-game stretch. His performance boosts the Ducks’ passing game, which was previously lacking. Oregon is ranked seventh in passing offense compared to second-ranked rushing offense.
Stanford, however, is solid at all aspects of its defensive game, ranking third in total defense, fourth in passing defense and fifth in rushing defense. The reason for this is that Stanford’s defense is much deeper than Oregon’s. Against Arizona, 10 Cardinals had at least three tackles, and against OSU, 14 different players tallied two or more tackles.
If Oregon’s deep field of running backs, featuring Royce Freeman and Tony Brooks-James, is able to produce like it has been, then the Ducks should be able to exploit the weaker part of Stanford’s defense. In the loss against USC, however, neither Freeman or Brooks-James were very effective. Freeman had eight carries for 38 yards and two catches for 9 yards, while Brooks-James had eight carries for 25 yards and four catches for 26 yards.
Stanford offense vs. Oregon defense
Stanford’s offense this season is uncharacteristically weak. It’s ranked last in the Pac-12 in total defense and passing offense. Even the Cardinal’s rushing game isn’t up to par, which is surprising given Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey leads the team and Pac-12 with 980 yards.
Following an unproductive game against Colorado that the Cardinals lost 10-5, Stanford head coach David Shaw elected to switch quarterbacks from senior Ryan Burns to junior Keller Chryst. Since then, Stanford has won the last two games, though its offense still hasn’t improved much. In the two games Chryst has played, he has thrown for a 164 yards and two touchdowns. He has also thrown an interception and was sacked four times.
Oregon’s defense this season is unsurprisingly weak, as it has been for the past couple of years. Oregon is ranked last in the Pac-12 in total defense and second to last in both passing defense and rushing defense. Troy Dye and Brenden Schooler have been Oregon’s best defensive players. Dye leads the team in tackles with 67 tackles (38 of which were solo) and sacks with 3.5 and 23 yards for loss. Schooler leads the team in interceptions with four.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03
Stack-up: Oregon’s offense and Stanford’s defense have upper hand in upcoming matchup
Hannah Bonnie
November 8, 2016
Oregon’s losing streak of five games is no more. The Ducks opened a 30-14 halftime lead and held off the visiting Sun Devils for their first Pac-12 win. With the victory, Oregon improves to 3-5 (1-4 Pac-12). True freshman quarterback Justin Herbert tied the school record for most passing yards (489) in …
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