The Oregon Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) dominated the Stanford Cardinal (1-4, 0-3 Pac-12) on Saturday by a score of 42-6. The Ducks bounced back from a poor first quarter showing to have another incredible offensive performance. Oregon had 506 yards of total offense, and the Ducks’ defense only allowed 222 yards from the Cardinal.
Stanford came out of the gate aggressively early. Its first drive was a long one, lasting over seven minutes, and included a fourth down conversion on its way to scoring the first points of the game to take a 3-0 lead.
A quick 3-and-out from Oregon gave Stanford the ball back. The Cardinal used their momentum to drive down the field for a second field goal on the first play of the second quarter.
The Ducks ended the first quarter with just six yards of total offense on just three plays. That trend continued with Oregon’s first drive in the second quarter. The Ducks, still unable to get anything going, had their second straight 3-and-out to begin the game.
Stanford’s offense was finally stopped by Oregon, after a third sack for the Ducks forced the first punt of the game for the Cardinal. Oregon’s first first-down came shortly after, and led to the first touchdown of the game. Oregon running back Jordan James scored on a 30-yard touchdown run.
That first touchdown helped Oregon’s offense finally kick into gear, as they drove down the field on its next possession. The Ducks went up 14-6 after a 17-yard touchdown run from Bucky Irving.
Oregon’s defense held strong again which got the offense the ball back with a chance to take a two-possession lead into the second half. However, Camden Lewis missed his first field goal of the season to allow Stanford to stay within a touchdown.
Oregon led 14-6 heading into halftime. The Ducks totaled 202 yards of offense in the second quarter, bouncing back from their offensive struggles in the first quarter.
Oregon received the second half kickoff, and wasted no time driving down the field for its third touchdown of the game. Oregon converted a fourth down with a 10-yard pass for a touchdown from Bo Nix to tight end Terrance Ferguson.
Following a Stanford 3-and-out, Oregon struck again. This time it was on a 45-yard completion from Nix to Troy Franklin to give the Ducks a 28-6 lead. Franklin’s score makes it eight of his last nine games in which he’s scored a touchdown.
Stanford tried another fourth down conversion, but had this one stopped by the Oregon run defense. Jordan James had a 37-yard run to set up Franklin’s second touchdown of the game, this one coming on a five-yard completion.
Oregon’s defense forced another turnover on downs from Stanford, and the offense immediately capitalized with a 9-yard completion to Traeshon Holden for a touchdown. The passing touchdown was Nix’s fourth touchdown pass of the day.
That would be Nix’s last drive of the game as Ty Thompson took over when Oregon got the ball back. Nix finished the game with 290 passing yards and four touchdown passes.
Oregon’s defensive line had its second straight impressive showing. The Ducks followed up a seven-sack performance against Colorado with five sacks and 11 tackles-for-loss in the win over Stanford.
Oregon’s rushing attack was led by the 88 rushing yards from both Irving and James. Both rushers also added a touchdown on the ground. Troy Franklin’s 117 receiving yards marked his fourth game this season where he has topped 100 yards. Franklin also had two touchdown catches.
The Ducks will not play next Saturday, as they have a bye week, but will be back in action on Saturday, October 14 against No. 7 Washington (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12), who will play Arizona (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) later Saturday night.
