COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Oregon Knocked Off by Stanford Return : Pacific 10: Evans brings back kickoff 96 yards as Cardinal remains unbeaten with a victory over the No. 12 Ducks.

The Ducks finally ran out of luck.

After three hair-raising victories, 12th-ranked Oregon couldn’t quite put together another miracle Saturday in a 28-21 upset loss to Stanford.

Marlon Evans climbed out of first-year coach Tyrone Willingham’s doghouse with a 96-yard kickoff return for the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter for the Cardinal (3-0-1, 1-0 in the Pac-10), off to its best start since 1986.

“I said earlier in the year that one game doesn’t make a season, and this doesn’t make a season,” Willingham said. “What this does is allow us to maintain some momentum and be one of the few teams in the country that are still undefeated.”

The Ducks outgained Stanford 454-293 but had their nine-game regular-season winning streak end thanks largely to their own mistakes.

Oregon’s Tony Graziani completed 26 of 50 passes for 292 yards but was intercepted three times in the first half. Two of the pickoffs led to Stanford touchdowns.

“Maybe he was excited,” Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said. “Maybe he was overanxious to prove a point.”

The defending Pac-10 champion Ducks (3-1, 1-1) had used fourth-quarter heroics to beat Utah, Illinois and UCLA, and they almost did it again.

Trailing, 28-14, Oregon went 80 yards in 16 plays to score on Graziani’s five-yard pass toDameron Ricketts with 2:58 to play.

Freshman Josh Smith’s onsides kick bounced off Stanford’s Alistair White and Smith recovered, but the Ducks’ final drive never got past the Cardinal’s 39.

Evans was called for a personal foul to help Oregon on its game-tying touchdown drive in the third quarter. After the penalty, Graziani connected with Cristin McLemore on a 57-yard pass play to set up Ricky Whittle’s game-tying touchdown with 36 seconds left in the quarter.

“I don’t think Stanford has had a personal foul all year, so that’s definitely not my style, and it’s not the Stanford style,” Evans said.

“I just lost my cool for a second and really cost the team, so I knew on the next play that I had to do something to redeem myself.”

With Willingham’s nose-to-nose tirade still ringing in his ears, Evans took the kickoff at his four, evaded a tackler at the 35, and raced to the end zone for the go-ahead score.