It’s a goal-line stand the Ducks hope will carry them through their final four games of the season.
It was a seven-play goal-line defensive series that kept the Cardinal from scoring a single point, propelling Oregon to its first Pacific-10 Conference shutout in 11 years.
It epitomized the Ducks’ day defensively. A day where Stanford could do nothing right and Oregon looked like the team that went to the Fiesta Bowl two seasons ago.
“The stand at the goal-line was maybe one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
With 11:27 to play in the fourth quarter — and Oregon comfortably ahead 28-0 — safety Marley Tucker and linebacker David Martin got to Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis for a 14-yard sack that ended the most significant set of defensive plays for the Ducks this season.
With Stanford at the Oregon 1-yard line, running back J.R. Lemon attempted a one-yard run. That didn’t work. In the next play — from the 2 — he was stopped again.
The Ducks got to Lewis for a sack on the third play of the stand, but a facemask penalty put the Cardinal back to the 1-yard line.
Lemon tried another rush on the fourth play of the stand, but he was stopped by linebacker Kevin Mitchell. Lewis then ran for no gain, followed by yet another ineffective run by Lemon.
That’s when Tucker and Martin decided to end Stanford’s feeble attempt at a touchdown.
“We got the job done,” defensive end Quinn Dorsey said. “It was exciting. I’ve never seen that done before.”
Bellotti called it a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the Oregon players said it could very well be a shot in the arm.
“We believed we could get the job done down there,” Dorsey said. “That’s a great building block. I hope we can do it (the rest of the season).”
Overall, Stanford mustered 326 yards offensively, 225 of which came from an aerial attack. However, a 71-yard pass from Lewis to wide receiver Mark Bradford in the second quarter accounted for a large chunk of that yardage.
The Cardinal had the ball on the Oregon 3-yard line at that point, but Martin made his first major play of the day with an interception on the Ducks’ 1-yard line.
“On that drive, I give that to Keith Lewis,” Martin said. “Keith gave us another chance. He stopped (Bradford) on the 3-yard line and I happened to get the pick on the one. That’s a good defensive effort right there.”
Oregon’s last shutout came last season when the Ducks defeated Portland State by 41. The Vikings, however, are a Division I-AA school and were outmatched by Oregon’s defense that day.
The last time the Ducks held a Division-I opponent scoreless came on Nov. 21, 1992 in a 7-0 blanking of Oregon State in Corvallis.
“If you shut out somebody in the Pac-10 — it doesn’t matter who it is — it is an accomplishment,” Bellotti said.
The Ducks all took pride in the feat, but said it wasn’t the biggest achievement they will take away from the game.
“I think we take pride in it,” cornerback Justin Phinisee said. “But we’re more focused on us playing as a whole.”
Oregon did, however, lose a key component of its secondary. Cornerback Steven Moore left the game in the first half after a punt return.
He returned shortly thereafter to the sideline with a boot and crutches. The senior has a sprained left ankle, although X-rays showed nothing abnormal. Early indications are that he is questionable for Oregon’s game against Washington next week in Seattle.
“I think, DB-wise, we’re healthy enough to where we can have somebody come in and defend,” Phinisee said. “Steven is a great player. We will miss him, but I think whoever does come in for him will be ready.”
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Back in action: Oregon takes down Stanford (part 2)
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