Not many eyes east of Oregon tuned into ‘Pac-12 after dark.’ Nor did many Stanford fans fill the visiting section at Autzen Stadium. 

Could you blame them? 

The No. 13 Oregon Ducks lucked out with the lack of viewers, as the 45-27 scoreline might suggest there were a slew of positives the team could extract from their performance. Far from it. The Ducks’ discipline issues — which manifested themselves as eight penalties for 87 yards against Washington State last Saturday — continued against the Stanford Cardinal. 

By halftime, the Ducks had committed more penalty yards than the Cardinal had rushing yards. 90-45. A testament to their run defense? Sure. 

No matter, they had covered the 18-point spread, leading 31-3 with 30 minutes to play. In large part due to their defense forcing four three-and-outs and a fumble — which was returned to the Stanford 3-yard-line and resulted in a Bo Nix rushing touchdown the following play.

“Frustrated is an understatement, that’s a complete lack of discipline on our part,” head coach Dan Lanning said on the radio at halftime. “We have to coach it better. I want to see us play a clean game. The only team to beat us is us. Where we’re at in penalties is embarrassing.”

By the end of the game, the Ducks had tallied 14 penalties for 135 yards. 

Lanning had a point, though: the Cardinal weren’t going to do anything to challenge his team. This was an internal conflict. It was imperative that the Ducks clean up their miscues because teams that remain on their schedule — such as UCLA, No. 15 Washington and No. 12 Utah — will take advantage of them. 

“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Lanning said. “It showed up in the past. It showed up again this game and we got to do a better job of coaching that. The penalties can’t happen. It has to be something that we improve on.”

A number of Oregon’s early penalties came from its offensive line. The Ducks’ first touchdown — a screen pass turned upfield by Kris Hutson — was called back because of an illegal man downfield. A few plays later, guard Marcus Harper was called for a false start which killed the opening drive, forcing the Ducks to settle for a 38-yard field-goal. 

Okay, okay, enough trashing. After all, there must have been a few positives as the Ducks put up over 40 points for the fourth straight game. 

Despite conceding its first sack of the 2022 season, the offensive line unit made up for its first half penalties. They opened gaping holes in the running game and got downfield to create lanes as the Ducks found success on screen passes. 

“We want to lean on our strengths,” Lanning said. “I think our O-line’s been a strength all year. Our backs were running hard. We were obviously able to involve the quarterback in the run game, and wide receivers too; that was part of our plan. If they didn’t take it away, we were going to continue to lean on it.”

Quarterback Bo Nix led the Ducks with 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns on six attempts as he became the first Duck to breach the 100-yard single-game rushing mark this season. His night was highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown trot — the longest touchdown of the Ducks’ season, one that left Nix “sucking wind on the sideline,” Lanning said. 

Running back Bucky Irving complemented Nix’s performance as he turned 10 carries into 97 rushing yards. 

While the Ducks’ rushing game set the tone, their defense — which entered the week with the fewest rushing yards surrendered among all Pac-12 teams this season — did its best to maintain that rank. 

Save garbage time, they held the Cardinal to under 100 rushing yards. 

Last season, the Ducks first loss came at the hands of the Cardinal — a game that remains Stanford’s most recent Pac-12 conference victory. It was a loss that weighed heavy on the mind of Oregon safety Bennett Williams, as he was unable to travel to Palo Alto and contribute to the game. 

On Saturday, the senior channeled that feeling as he led the way for the defense. 

“I think I had a little extra motivation,” Williams said. “I didn’t get to play last year and I had to watch that on TV with my leg up. I was fired up for this game and I wanted to take it to them.” 

His approach translated into seven tackles and a forced fumble. 

As the Cardinal struggled to find success on either side of the football, they decided they’d try to rile up their opponents as a way to remain in the game. The result: a second quarter scrum  and a reinforced stereotype. 

On a potential fumble, Nix was unaware the ball was blown dead. So, he threw himself headfirst into a Cardinal player, his helmet flew off and the two squads came together. Somewhere in the congregation, Ducks receiver Seven McGee threw “a punch” that failed to surface on any social media platform. He was ejected and had something to say about it. 

Pac-12 refs, man. 

On Saturday, the Ducks and Cardinal combined to produce yet another ugly Pac-12 game broadcasted as background entertainment for nightlife across the country. It saw the Ducks emerge victorious, improving to 5-1 (2-0), before they travel to play the Arizona Wildcats next Saturday.