After two weeks of abuse, the Oregon football team finally got defensive.
The No. 15 Ducks (7-2 overall, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) pounded an already-bruised Stanford offense Saturday and snapped a two-game skid with a 41-14 win in front of 56,436 fans at Autzen Stadium.
Burned for a combined 1,007 passing yards in consecutive home losses to Arizona State and USC, the Oregon defense held Stanford (2-6, 1-4), the top rushing team in the conference prior to Saturday, to 173 total yards, including 81 yards on the ground.
“This game was about confidence as much as anything else,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “We didn’t play well on the secondary, we didn’t play well on defense the last two weeks.
“Certainly Stanford’s not the test we’ve had the past two weeks nor what we will face in the next two weeks, but I thought this was a good first step.”
Despite playing without star tailback Onterrio Smith — who was sidelined as a precaution with a minor knee injury — Oregon jumped out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter. In Smith’s place, true freshman Terrence Whitehead rushed for 132 yards on 29 carries in his first career start.
“We wanted to make a statement,” said Oregon quarterback Jason Fife, who was 20-of-36 for 254 yards and four total touchdowns. “We wanted to put up as many points as we could. We said, ‘Let’s just play flawless and kill ’em.’”
Stanford was the only team to beat Oregon last season — a 49-42 win at Autzen — so the Ducks said they had something to prove, especially with the memory of the Cardinal’s postgame celebration at midfield.
“Last year, it hurt a little bit that Stanford celebrated, and they had the right to celebrate because they had a great victory,” said Oregon defensive tackle Igor Olshansky. “But we wanted to make the point that we’re the only ones to celebrate on the ‘O’ from now on.”
Neither team did much celebrating in the second half. Stanford came out of the locker room and put together a drive for more than 10 minutes, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Tolon. After that, Stanford totaled just one yard, and third-string quarterback Ryan Eklund was picked off by Oregon safety Keith Lewis.
The Cardinal, already playing without starting quarterback Chris Lewis (shoulder), were dealt another blow when backup quarterback Kyle Matter went down with a hand injury in the third quarter.
Oregon’ second half offensive woes continued. In just three possessions, the Ducks managed only a field goal in the second half. That Jared Siegel kick, however, extended his streak to 15 consecutive field goals, a school record.
But the Ducks started their fireworks show early. On the opening drive of the game, Fife found tight end Tim Day for a one-yard score, Day’s first career touchdown catch.
Stanford, on its first possession, tried twice to go over the top of Oregon freshman cornerback Aaron Gipson, to no avail. After a Stanford punt, Oregon took possession at its own 22. On the first play, Whitehead took a handoff, cut outside and dashed for a 42-yard gain. Seven plays later, Fife found tight end George Wrighster, who made a nifty one-handed grab in the end zone to put the Ducks up 14-0.
“That was an awesome catch,” Fife said. “That was pretty much the only place I could put the ball.”
Less than five minutes later, Wrighster took a pitch and scored his first career rushing touchdown. Stanford again had trouble finding a rhythm on its next possession and was forced to punt. The snap, however, was off and rolled past Stanford punter Erick Johnson and all the way to the Stanford 3-yard line, where Oregon took over.
Two plays later, Fife dove into the end zone to give Oregon a 28-0 first-quarter lead.
The Oregon secondary will be tested again next week when the Ducks travel to Pullman, Wash., to face No. 5 Washington State and its potent passing attack.
Meanwhile, Smith said he will practice today and be ready for Washington State.