Oregon blows past Stanford in a blur of a game
From Eugene, Ore.
They haven’t invented anything fast enough to keep up with the likes of Oregon versus Stanford, which played Saturday night at break-neck speed in front of a sell-out crowd of 59, 818.
Twitter seemed as slow as Morse Code.
Autzen Stadium and a nationally televised audience were treated to the Pacific 10 Conference “warped-speed game of the week,” a beat-the-play-clock glimpse into modern-day modem football.
No. 4 Oregon, the defending conference champion, raced back from a 21-3 first-half deficit to defeat No. 9 Stanford, 52-31, in a marquee matchup that didn’t disappoint.
Oregon (5-0) kept alive its national title hopes while Stanford, even as it fell to 4-1, established its worthiness in its first top-10 appearance since 2001.
Let’s face it: Stanford wasn’t the first team, and won’t be the last, to get worn down by Oregon’s offensive explosiveness.
After trailing big early, Oregon outscored Stanford, 49-10, and 28-0 in the second half, with a dizzying array of runs, passes, fakes and even an onside kick.
The official party started when Ducks tailback LaMichael James raced 76 yards with a tack-on touchdown in the closing seconds.
James finished with 257 yards rushing. Quarterback Darron Thomas also had a monster game with 238 yards passing, 117 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
You wanted action from two of the nation’s most high-powered teams?
Oregon outgained Stanford, 626 yards to 518.
The final score was not indicative of a game that was fiercely contested deep into the fourth quarter.
Second-year Commissioner Larry Scott, who has worked tirelessly to re-brand the Pac-10 and garner more national attention for his league, soaked in the atmosphere from the Autzen Stadium press box.
“Sitting here, looking at this stadium, and the polls, and TV wanting to jump through hoops for us, there’s a different dialogue and narrative around the conference right now,” Scott said.
You might call it a buzz. All the advertising and promotion in the world, though, can’t replace the product on the field.
Stanford at Oregon was the kind of game that will keep people coming back for more.
Stanford silenced the crowd early when it turned two Oregon turnovers into touchdowns on its way to a 21-3 lead.
Oregon was stunned, but hardly defeated. It was like a boxer getting grazed with a few early-round jabs to the chin.
Sometimes, those pokes act as a wake-up call.
The Ducks, averaging a nation-leading 57 points per game, just kept pressing until Stanford finally broke.
Oregon trailed, 31-24, at the half, but tied the score on its first second-half possession on Thomas’ six-yard scoring run.
The game turned on a big third-quarter play that began with a big hit.
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck tossed a short pass to receiver Chris Owusu, who had the ball dislodged after a jarring hit by safety Javes Lewis. Teammate Eddie Pleasant scooped up the ball and raced 49 yards to the Stanford three.
Owusu was motionless on the field for a few minutes, dazed from Lewis’ hit to the head, before beginning a wobbly walk to the sidelines.
James ran it home from the three on first down to give Oregon its first lead since making a field goal on its opening drive.
Stanford, crisp, swift and efficient, was considered the “slow” team compared to Oregon, which operates between breathless and full throttle.
Coaches from around the country migrate to Eugene these days just to watch Coach Chip Kelly’s practices, which are run with no wasted movement and completed in about two hours.
Jon Gruden told the New York Times this week he almost passed up his ESPN analyst’s job to move to Oregon to study the Ducks’ microwave spread-read offense. Gruden’s wife, in the end, didn’t see that as a good career move.
Oregon is so dependent on tempo Ducks fans on Saturday heartily booed any stoppage of the action, including game officials taking too much time spotting the ball.
The fans didn’t like it when Stanford called time outs to slow the pace.
At one point early in the second half, the fans howled when Stanford linebacker Chase Thomas fell to the field with an injury, momentarily stopping the clock.
Was Stanford feigning injuries to slow down the pace?
Oregon fans thought so, and let Thomas have it when he returned to the field only one play after he limped off of it.
The first half alone could have passed for a perfectly fine complete game.
The teams at that point had combined for 55 points and 624 yards. The game’s first punt wasn’t kicked until 3 minutes 59 seconds left in the half.
Stanford, as it turned out, would not score again.
Oregon, as it turned out, was just getting started.
chris.dufresne@latimes.com
