Oregon blows out Stanford behind Heisman-worthy performance from Marcus Mariota
Stanford has never been kind to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Heisman frontrunner put an end to that Saturday night.
After Stanford ruined undefeated seasons for Oregon in the last two years , Mariota and the fifth-ranked Ducks featured a balanced, high-powered offensive attack to finally get over the hump in a blowout 45-16 home win. Mariota led the way, passing for 258 yards and two scores while also running for 85 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. In all, the Ducks racked up 525 yards of offense – 267 rushing, 258 passing – en route to a big win.
The Cardinal defense stifled Oregon’s spread attack in years past, but the Ducks moved the ball with ease from the start. Though Stanford was able to hang around early with two field goals, two Mariota scores (one passing, one rushing) and a Thomas Tyner touchdown run allowed the Ducks to jump out to a 21-6 lead early in the second.
An Oregon field goal pushed the lead to 24-6, but Stanford was able to get in the end zone and cut the lead to 24-13 at halftime via a one-yard Patrick Skov touchdown run.
After Stanford’s Kevin Hogan and Mariota traded interceptions to start the second half, the Cardinal got within one possession, 26-14, with Jordan Williamson’s third field goal of the game. That was the closest Stanford would get.
Oregon’s next drive culminated with another Tyner touchdown run. This one was from 21-yards out and features a video game-like spin move inside the 10. Hogan fumbled on Stanford’s next drive, and it was all Oregon from then on out.
The win improves the Ducks to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12 while also giving Mariota, the current Heisman favorite, a coveted win over Stanford. Oregon was ranked No. 1 in the country when the Ducks fell 17-14 to Stanford in 2012. Last year, the Ducks were undefeated again and ranked No. 3, but a hobbled Mariota and the Ducks fell to the fifth-ranked Cardinal 26-20.
With Ole Miss losing to Auburn Saturday night, the Ducks may be able to slide into the Top 4 of next week’s College Football Playoff rankings. A trip to Salt Lake City to square off with No. 17 Utah is next on the schedule.
Meanwhile, Stanford drops to a disappointing 5-4 with the loss.
For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.
For more Stanford news, visit CardinalSportsReport.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
