Originally posted on CampusAttic.com on November 1st, 2013
With
next Thursday night’s big football matchup between Oregon and Stanford, a game
that has been highly anticipated for a solid year now, it is difficult not to
dwell on the past and ponder…why is it always freakin’ Stanford?
Long
before Stanford was considered one of the top football powerhouses in the
country, before the days of Harbaugh and Luck and Shaw, the Cardinal continued
to be the thorn in the Duck’s webfoot, the fly in the ointment, the pain in
the…part of a duck that is considered to be water tight. Damn you, freakin’
Stanford…
Even
when the Stanford Cardinal have been at their lowest point, even when Duck fans
outnumbered Cardinal fans in their own stadium, even when Oregon manages to
come out with the W, somehow it’s always freakin’ Stanford that makes life
miserable for Oregon.
It
is difficult not to be worried about the pending matchup, even as Stanford has
looked less than stellar on the year considering their lofty incoming
expectations coming off a Pac-12 Championship year in 2012, losing earlier this
year to Utah and having difficulty getting past UCLA and Oregon State.
Yet
no team on the schedules seems to bring out the stomach butterflies for Oregon
fans more than the team named after a color (they were the Stanford Indians
until it was decided to switch to a more P.C. name of simply “cardinal”), and
there is historic precedent to completely validate those concerns over next
Thursday night’s primetime battle in Palo Alto, CA.
There
is no team in the Pac that has done a better job of playing spoiler for
Oregon’s plans over the years than Stanford. Washington and Oregon State may
get the blood boiling more than any other team, but a glimpse through the past
reveals that perhaps it should be Stanford that draws our ire.
When
expectations are raised, Stanford plays the role of the roadblock providing the
biggest challenger and pooper of parties, nobody plays the role of Oregon’s
arch-villain better than the Stanford Cardinal.
It
is one of Oregon’s oldest rivals, the first game between the two schools held
in 1900, the first game Oregon ever played against an out-of-state opponent.
Stanford won that game 34-0, and for over a century have found a way to create
Duck tears ever since, but their ability to bully Oregon around has reached a
new level of frustration over the past three decades, starting in 1980.
——————
1980 – Stanford 35
Oregon 25
 |
| An Ogburn-Elway showdown never came to be, and the Cardinal have been terrorizing Oregon ever since. (courtesy: CBSsports.com) |
In
1979 Oregon had shown signs of life, after a decade of mediocrity. The team had
won six games behind the showstopping play of JC transfer quarterback Reggie
Ogburn, and with Ogburn returning for his senior year in 1980 the Ducks were
thinking the long bowl drought since 1963 would finally be over…the opening game
of the year was hyped up as a matchup between Oregon’s Ogburn and Stanford’s
John Elway, but an off-season NCAA probe revealed that four schools including
Oregon violated rules. Coaches were fined, players were suspended, scholarships
were docked, and the great matchup of Ogburn and Elway never came to be.
Stanford
won the game 35-25 to open the year at Autzen Stadium, while Ogburn had to
watch from the stands. Once Reggie returned, Oregon was off and running,
winning six games including a 34-10 victory over Washington in Seattle
(Oregon’s wouldn’t win in Seattle again until 1997), but that opening season
Stanford loss prevented Oregon from reaching a bowl.
With
Ogburn’s graduation following the 1980 season Oregon’s winning ways dissipated,
slipping back to seasons of two and three wins, Oregon wouldn’t make it to a
bowl game for almost a decade until the 1989 Independence Bowl.
1987 – Stanford 13
Oregon 10
 |
| Oregon quarterback Bill Musgrave had a great career, but Stanford proved a problem. |
With
Bill Musgrave at quarterback, there was energy and excitement back in Oregon
football. The Ducks were on the rise in the Pac-10 with a group of young
players making a big impact, but a 13-10 loss to Stanford would once again be
the hindrance from Oregon finally breaking its bowl curse.
Oregon
had led the game 10-0 at halftime, but a 3rd quarter safety and field goal had
given the Cardinal hope. Stanford took the lead on a touchdown with 39 seconds
left in the game, but Oregon quickly drove back in position to score, reaching
Stanford’s 21 yard line. Rather than attempt a field goal for the tie, Coach
Rich Brooks gambled and elected to go for the win, but Musgrave’s pass intended
for Terry Obee was knocked down as time expired.
Just
like in 1980, Oregon would finish with six wins, lamenting the Stanford loss as
the roadblock to reaching a bowl.
1989 – Stanford 18
Oregon 17
In
1989 Oregon had cracked the top-25 rankings, but Stanford still managed to
spoil the party. Just like in 1987, Oregon had led the game at halftime,
holding a seemingly commanding 17-0 lead late in the game, but with seven
minutes left on the clock in Palo Alto, Stanford quarterback Brian Johnson
found Gary Taylor for a 21-yard touchdown. Johnson would be knocked out of the
game, but after Oregon was forced to punt, Johnson’s backup led a touchdown
drive and two-point conversion to bring the Cardinal within striking distance
at 17-15.
 |
|
Stanford
quarterback Brian Johnson (courtesy: Fanbase.com)
|
Stanford
executed a perfect onside kick, recovered by Corey Booker, setting up what
would be the game-winning field goal as time expired, 18-17.
Oregon
would recover from the loss and finish the year with seven victories, enough to
be bowl eligible. But with fewer bowls in this era, it wasn’t guaranteed the
Ducks would have a postseason game. Having to buy-in with a promise of ticket
allotment sales, Oregon was finally able to reach a bowl game, the first since
the 1963 Sun Bowl, reaching the 1989 Independence Bowl.
Oregon
beat Tulsa 27-24 in Shreveport, LA at the Independence Bowl, on a night
memorable for the freezing weather as much as the on-field play, and for its
importance in establishing the trend of Oregon’s changing uniforms that have
come to largely define the program on a national perspective. Despite yet
another painful Stanford loss, Oregon had finally made it over the hump.
Unfortunately there would be Stanford heartbreak to come.
1992 – Stanford 21
Oregon 7
 |
| Glyn Milburn led the nation in yards in 1991. (courtesy: Fanbase.com) |
Oregon
entered Stanford the underdog coming off an opening season loss to Hawaii, but
the Duck defense came prepared, forcing four turnovers. Oregon led 7-0, but
after two years of stymieing Stanford’s superstar Glyn Milburn (the 1991
all-purpose yardage leader in the country) for two years, Milburn finally broke
loose against the Ducks. Stanford racked up three scores on a record-setting
day for Milburn and quarterback Steve Stenstrom, while Oregon’s offense was
anemic, the lose score being the result of two penalties.
By
the 4th quarter Oregon coaches had seen enough, benching quarterback Danny
O’neil in favor of backup Doug Musgrave, but the Musgrave pedigree couldn’t
muster the same magic as his older brother, and the Ducks lost 21-7.
It
was the first 0-2 start for Oregon since 1983, but the Ducks would win five of
the next seven to salvage a year filled with much promise, finishing with six
wins and an invite to return to the Independence Bowl. The Ducks lost to Wake
Forest in the return trip to Shreveport, 39-35.
1993 – Stanford 38
Oregon 34
Again,
a year of promise proved disappointing, and Stanford twisted the knife deeper.
The Cardinal weren’t the ones to inflict the initial damage, that happened when
Oregon (3-0) gave up a 30-0 halftime lead at Cal to lose 42-41, the largest
deficit ever overcome in NCAA history.
 |
| Stanford quarterback Steve Stenstrom was a repeat offender in breaking Oregon’s heart. (courtesy: Bleacherreport.com) |
The
season spiraled out of control from there, losing four of the next six games
leading to the November 13th, 1993 Stanford game at Autzen Stadium. With a win,
Oregon would still be bowl eligible, and Oregon looked motivated to salvage to
the season, walking right into the Stanford buzz saw.
Once
again Stanford quarterback Steve Stenstrom broke the record books, surpassing
marks set by Stanford quarterback John Elway a decade earlier. Stanford at one
point led by as many as 22 in Autzen Stadium while holding Oregon to only a
field goal at the half, then kept the Ducks at bay during a late surge,
Stanford again spoiling Oregon’s chances with a 38-34 victory.
The
loss to Stanford eliminated Oregon’s chances for a bowl game in 1993, further
cemented by the lackluster loss in the Civil War game the following week. After
two disappointing years in a row, little was expected of Oregon in the 1994
season, picked to finish 9th in the conference, thankfully for one year at
least Stanford wouldn’t prevent Oregon’s dreams.
1995 – Stanford 28
Oregon 21
 |
| Safety Jaiya Figueras broke his leg on a day Oregon would like to forget. |
After
the Rose Bowl run of 1994, expectations were through the roof for Oregon in
1995, and rightfully so, returning a team arguably more talented than the 1994
Pac-10 champion team. Three big wins to open the season, the last two being
last-minute victories over Illinois and UCLA in back-to-back weeks thanks to
herculean efforts by safety Jaiya Figueras had the Ducks rolling, but a somber
wake-up call came the next week vs. Stanford. Not only did the Ducks lose to
Stanford, but Figueras suffered a devastating leg injury that would take until
the 1997 season to fully recover from.
The
28-21 loss to Stanford on September 23rd, 1995, grounded the 12th-ranked Ducks,
once again in heartbreaking fashion. Oregon had rallied to tie the game 14-14
as the third quarter ticked down, but on the ensuing kickoff following Oregon’s
score Stanford’s Marlon Evans returned it 96 yards for the go-ahead score.
Three interceptions thrown by Oregon quarterback Tony Graziani didn’t help the
cause, setting up Stanford for another score, which proved the game-winner.
The
loss proved to be extra bitter, in not only losing a rising star in Figueras,
but the loss would prove to be the deciding factor in Oregon not repeating as
Pac-10 conference champions. Resigned to the Cotton Bowl vs. Colorado, the
Ducks would get throttled by the Buffaloes 38-6, noted and definitely not
forgotten for Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel’s decision to fake a punt late
in the game while ahead by nearly 30 points. It spawned the start of the
“neweasel” catchphrase and hatred of ‘Slick Rick’ that has never subsided among
Duck fans during Neuheisel’s follow-up coaching stops at Washington and UCLA.
1996 – Stanford 27
Oregon 24
Oregon’s
1996 season derailed halfway through following an injury to quarterback Tony
Graziani, but there was still a chance for redemption…until Stanford.
 |
| Kailee Wong beating Oregon was extra painful knowing he grew up in Eugene a Duck fan. (courtesy: Bleacherreport.com) |
The
Ducks had opened the year with the first regular season overtime game in NCAA
history, defeating Fresno State 30-27, but the overtime rule would come back to
bite hard, as Stanford took down the Ducks in Palo Alto on a field goal in
overtime, 27-24. It was Stanford’s fifth win in the last six matchups, Oregon’s
lone victory coming in the 1994 Pac-10 championship season.
Oregon
seemed assured of victory following Patrick Johnson’s 95-yard kickoff return to
give the Ducks a 24-14 lead, the return sparking vindictive memories of Marlon
Evans’ return the year prior at Autzen sinking Oregon’s chances. Then came the
4th quarter, where Stanford scored on two of their last three possessions while
Oregon couldn’t muster a single first down, sending the game to overtime.
The
Stanford late defensive effort was led by Kailee Wong, a North Eugene High
School graduate. In the first overtime, it was Wong who tracked down Graziani
from behind as the quarterback scrambled, causing a fumble that Stanford
recovered. A short field goal later, and it was all over.
The
1996 loss was the fourth in a row for Oregon, and would be followed by a bad
loss to Washington before Oregon rallied to finish off the year with three
straight wins. However the mid-season stretch was too much to overcome, the
Ducks finishing 6-5, and left out of a bowl game when Cal (6-5) was picked to
represent the Pac-10 in the Aloha Bowl over Oregon, despite Oregon beating Cal
40-23 that year. It was one of only two years that Oregon would not go bowling
during head coach Mike Bellotti’s tenure.
1997 – Stanford 58
Oregon 49
In
a season where defense was optional for Oregon, the 1997 matchup against
Stanford proved a microcosm of the whole year–at times invigorating, other
times frustrating. At one point in the game Oregon scored two touchdowns in
seven seconds, in a back-and-forth battle of two offenses showcasing their
firepower.
In
the end though, Oregon’s offense blinked, while Stanford continued to roll over
the Ducks D in a whoever-scores-last-wins matchup more akin to a basketball
game. Stanford’s 58 points was the most scored against an Oregon team since
Oklahoma racked up 62 on the Ducks in 1975, while Oregon’s 49 were the most at
the time ever scored by a losing team in a regulation Pac-10 game.
Jason
Maas threw for five touchdowns and wide receiver Patrick Johnson had the best
game of his career, pulling in 13 receptions for 179 yards and two touchdowns,
but it wasn’t enough as Stanford scored its highest ever total vs. Oregon.
The game was capped off with a safety by Stanford’s Kailee Wong, the local
Eugene, OR product who had forced a fumble in overtime setting up Stanford’s
victory the year prior.
2001 – Stanford 49
Oregon 42
The
Oregon-Stanford series thankfully took a scheduling respite for a few years
following the tumultuous 90s, but the Cardinal came back in a big way with
arguably the most devastating, heartbreaking, jaw-dropping victory in history
between the two teams.
 |
|
Oregon
had no answer for Teyo Johnson’s size. (courtesy: AP/DonRyan)
|
2001
had #5 Oregon rolling on a rampage through the Pac-10 seemingly destined for
the Pac-10 title and a shot at the national championship. Oregon quarterback Joey
Harrington was a legitimate Heisman trophy candidate, and Oregon touted the
longest-active home winning streak in the country at 23…they would hold the
record for only one week.
Oregon
was handling Stanford cruising to a hard-fought but apparent victory…then the
4th quarter happened. In a mind-boggling display of WTF and disbelief with
Oregon ahead 42-28, Stanford blocked two punts and intercepted a pass leading
to 21 points, taking full advantage of a height advantage of over a foot
between Stanford’s Teyo Johnson and Oregon’s Rashad Bauman, repeatedly throwing
up jump balls that Johnson brought down like an easy rebound in the paint over
a point guard.
A
last second hail mary pass fell flat, and Stanford walked away with a shocking
49-42 victory, ending Oregon’s home winning streak and undefeated season. The
Ducks wouldn’t lose again that year, capturing the Pac-10 title, but the loss
to Stanford would prevent Oregon from playing in the BCS national championship,
a 10-1 Nebraska team that finished 3rd in the Big-12 getting the nod over the
Ducks.
Oregon
would destroy Colorado, the Big-12 champions, in the Fiesta Bowl 38-16, forever
leaving a what-if and shoulda-been hypothetical matchup lingering in people’s
minds, would Oregon have put up a better fight against the 2001 Miami
Hurricanes than the pathetic showing of Nebraska? Yeah, probably, but we’ll
never know. Thanks Stanford.
2004 – Oregon 16
Stanford 13
For
as painful as Stanford had made the 1980s and 1990s, the 2000s were Oregon’s chance
for revenge, 2001 not withstanding. While Oregon walked away with the victory
in 2004, it wasn’t without a lot of wrecked nerves. In pouring rain at Stanford
Stadium Oregon had ground out a tough victory behind the legs of Terrence
Whitehead, but a Whitehead fumble late in the game set up Stanford with a
chance.
A
dubious catch that appeared to be out of bounds and after the clock had expired
was ruled in-bounds and with one second left on the clock, giving Stanford a
chance for a field goal to send the game to overtime. For once karma actually
swung back Oregon’s way, as the bad call on the catch didn’t matter once
Stanford’s kick went wide.
Oregon
escaped with a W, but the luck in the bay area went the other way two weeks
later, when Oregon receiver Keith Allen dropped a pass on 4th down that hit him
in the hands, which would have likely led to a game-winning score over Cal in
Berkeley. The Cal loss gave the Ducks a 5-6 mark on the year, it would be the
only losing season in Mike Bellotti’s head coaching career at Oregon.
2009 – Stanford 51
Oregon 42
The
coming out party for then freshman Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and the
start of the short-but-memorable Jim Harbaugh era at Stanford, Oregon and
Stanford battled on the farm in a back-and-forth affair with Jeremiah Masoli
and Andrew Luck both having career days.
 |
| Toby Gerheart set a school rushing record vs. Oregon in 2009. (sfgate.com) |
Oregon
had its chances to come back, but a dropped pass on a wheel route by LaMichael
James that would have scored proved too costly to overcome, while Heisman
Trophy candidate Toby Gerheart repeatedly moved the chains on Oregon’s defense
grinding out yards between the tackles, racking up a school-record 223 yards
rushing.
Jeremiah Masoli threw for 334 yards and 3 TDs, while LaMichael James rushed for
125 yards a touchdown plus 89 more through the air, but it wasn’t enough as
time simply ran out on Oregon’s comeback against an unrelenting Stanford
attack. Whether on the ground behind Gerheart or Luck’s precision passing, the
Ducks defense simply couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down.
The
Stanford loss was the only in-conference defeat of the season, as Oregon
captured the Pac-10 title and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl, but the game
signaled a changing of the guard. Both Stanford and Oregon defeated USC that
year in back-to-back weeks, giving the Trojans the two worst defeats in school
history, marking a transition in the traditional powers. For the foreseeable
future, all roads to the Pac-10/12 championship would go through either Eugene
or Palo Alto.
2012 – Stanford 17
Oregon 14
If
the 2001 loss wasn’t devastating enough in hindsight preventing Oregon from a
shot at the national championship, Stanford’s BCS-blocking ways came back with
a vengeance 11 years later. Oregon had beaten Stanford two years in a row, but
the wins hadn’t come easy, in high scoring affairs.
The
2012 game was a shockingly defensive battle. Oregon was plagued with
self-inflicted wounds, repeatedly dropping passes, and quarterback Marcus
Mariota looking uncomfortable for the first time all season amidst a relentless
Stanford pass rush.
Two
ominous signs early in the game showed that it might not be Oregon’s day, as a
long run by Mariota was stopped short of a touchdown when De’Anthony Thomas
outpaced Mariota for the endzone rather than blocking the lone defender capable
of tackling him. Oregon would be stopped on 4th down, followed not long after
by a missed easy field goal by Alejandro Maldenaldo. The two plays would come
back to bite Oregon badly.
 |
| …and Zach Ertz is STILL out of bounds! (courtesy: nwsportsbeat.com) |
A
highly controversial call swung the game in Stanford’s favor late in the game,
when an apparent touchdown catch by Stanford tight end Zach Ertz showed on
replay to be out of bounds, yet was upheld by the referees as a touchdown,
tying the game 14-14. The replay proved that Ertz had bobbled the ball, not
retaining possession until his shoulder and head both were clearly out of
bounds.
In
overtime, Oregon kicker Alejandro Maldenaldo missed wide on a field goal again,
giving Stanford a chance to once again break Oregon’s heart. Still, Oregon had
a chance to push it to double OT, as linebacker Michael Clay stripped Stanford
QB Kevin Hogan of the ball, but was unable to reel it in, and Stanford kicked a
game-winning field goal to take it 17-14.
Just
like in 2001, Stanford’s win ended Oregon’s chances at playing for the national
championship, and ended a winning streak for the Ducks, coming into it with a
13-game streak, the longest active streak in the country.
——————
Then of course there is 1954, 1964, 1972, 1976…Dammit, Stanford.
Why, why does it always have to be freakin’ Stanford?
With
Oregon and Stanford still atop the Pac-12 conference as the two premier
football powerhouses west of the Mississippi, the battles are destined to be
tense, nerve-wracking experiences…and chances are Stanford will at some point
again in the future break Oregon’s heart. As history has proven, they are quite
adept at playing the role of spoiler when it comes to Duck dreams of grandeur.
Hopefully come Thursday night, it will be a game that won’t be added to this
list of painful memories.
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