San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Virus, then Ducks, take a toll on Cardinal
EUGENE, Ore. — Stanford suffered three losses before its season opener kicked off Saturday night, then another in a 3514 decision against No. 12 Oregon.
Stanford was hurt before the game even kicked off when it was announced that starting quarterback Davis Mills was unavailable.
Receiver Connor Wedington and defensive end Trey LaBounty were also listed as unavailable because of COVID19 testing results and contact tracing protocols. Stanford did not specify whether the players had tested positive, but Wedington said on Twitter that he tested negative.
“We were missing obviously a couple of our starters. Tough to find that out couple hours before the game,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “Once again, coaches made adjustments. Thankfully we didn’t have to adjust too many things.”
Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough picked up where former Ducks QB Justin Herbert left off, throwing for 227 yards and a touchdown and running for another score in the opener for both teams.
Shough completed 17 of 26 passes with one interception, and ran for 85 yards, as he assumed the starter’s role now that Herbert has moved on to the NFL. With Herbert at quarterback, Oregon went 122 last season and won the Rose Bowl over Wisconsin.
CJ Verdell ran for 105 yards and a score for Oregon, which won its 11th straight game at Autzen Stadium.
Mills started six games for the Cardinal last season, throwing for 1,960 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was replaced by Jack West, who made his first start. Stanford also used freshman Tanner McKee.
West completed 13 of 19 passes for 154 yards for Stanford, which went 48 last season to snap a 10year bowl streak. Austin Jones ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns but Jet Toner missed four fieldgoal attempts.
After Toner’s first attempt was off, Stanford took the early lead on Jones’ 4yard touchdown run.
Oregon answered on the ensuing drive with Verdell’s 10yard scoring run. Verdell is the Pac12’ s top returning running back with 1,220 rushing yards last season. Shough found Mycah Pittman with a 44yard pass on the scoring drive.
Toner’s 40yard attempt in the second quarter went wide left before Oregon pulled in front on Shough’s 5yard touchdown pass to DJ Johnson.
Oregon appeared to expand the lead on Shough’s 35yard pass to Johnny Johnson III in the end zone, but it was ruled incomplete on video review. A pass interference call on the play got the Ducks closer, and Travis Dye ran 14 yards to make it 217.
Toner missed a 35yard fieldgoal attempt before Shough ran for a 9yard touchdown to push the Ducks’ lead to 287.
Toner’s fourth missed fieldgoal attempt, a 27yarder, came early in the fourth quarter.
Jones ran 2 yards for a Stanford touchdown to narrow the deficit to 2814. Cyrus HabibiLikio’s 4yard scoring run provided the final margin.
“Shame of it was, honestly, we had multiple opportunities,” Shaw said. “In the passing game, in particular, we had, gosh, four or five chances for guys to make plays. We have to connect. It’s part of the problem with not having your starting quarterback, absolutely. Still, we practice and we practice together and we have to connect.”
Anne M. Peterson is an Associated Press writer. # 14 Oklahoma State 20, Kansas State 18: Jason Taylor II returned a fumble 85 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and the visiting Cowboys ( 5- 1, 4- 1 Big 12) stopped the Wildcats’ 2- point try that would have tied it with 2: 08 to go. K- State ( 4- 3, 4- 2) was forced to try for a 2- point conversion after Will Howard’s short TD run because of their odd decision to attempt a 2- point try to stretch a 12- 0 lead in the first half, which failed.
# 15 Coastal Carolina 23, South Alabama 6: Reese White ran for 81 yards as Coastal Carolina racked up 250 yards on the ground, and Jaivon Heiligh had 95 receiving yards for the host Chanticleers ( 7- 0, 5- 0 Sun Belt) against South Alabama ( 3- 4, 2- 2).
# 16 Marshall 51, UMass 10: Grant Wells threw three touchdown passes and Brenden Knox ran for two scores for the host Thundering Herd ( 6- 0).
# 17 Iowa State 38, Baylor 31: Brock Purdy threw three TD passes in the second half after throwing three interceptions in the first for host Iowa State ( 5- 2), which came from behind to beat Baylor. The Cyclones are 5- 1 in conference play for the first time in their 128- year history and are first in the Big 12 by a half- game.
# 18 SMU 47, Temple 23: Shane Buechele tossed four TD passes, two to Tyler Page, and the visiting Mustangs ( 7- 1, 4- 1 American Athletic) pulled away in the fourth quarter.
# 19 Oklahoma 62, Kansas 9: Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns as the host Sooners ( 5- 2, 4- 2 Big 12) routed the Jayhawks ( 0- 7, 0- 6).
# 22 Texas 17, West Virginia 13: The host Longhorns ( 5- 2, 4- 2 Big 12) stopped the Mountaineers ( 4- 3, 3- 3) on fourth- down passes into the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to escape. Sam Ehlinger threw two touchdown passes, including a 33yarder to Jake Smith in the third.
# 25 Liberty 38, Virginia Tech 35: Alex Barbir hit a 51- yard field goal with 1 second left to lift the visiting Flames, who moved to 7- 0 for the first time in program history.
Colorado 48, UCLA 42: Tailback Jarek Broussard scored three times in his first start, Colorado’s defense produced two big fourth- down stops in the final quarter and the Buffaloes opened the Karl Dorrell era by holding off the visiting Bruins in the Pac- 12 opener for both teams.