Snap, snap — hopes are dashed
After giving up too many big plays to Oregon, Stanford was still in position to win down the stretch Saturday night. But the simplest part of football, the center snap, did the Cardinal in.
Just as Stanford did to Oregon in 2012 and ’13, the Ducks knocked the Cardinal out of the national title picture, pulling out a 38-36 win at Stanford Stadium in a game that went down to the final seconds.
The Cardinal (8-2, 7-1 Pac-12) can
clinch the North Division title with a victory in next Saturday’s Big Game against Cal, but their second loss no doubt will take them out of the playoff discussion.
“Everybody’s going to talk about how awful this loss is,’’ Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “But we’ve got to win one game next week to go to the Pac-12 championship game. It just happens to be our biggest rival. It’s for the Axe. So we’re looking ahead.’’
The Cardinal cost themselves any chance at pulling the game out by botching two center snaps down the stretch, losing both to the Ducks.
Trailing 35-30, Stanford was near midfield midway through the fourth quarter when quarterback Kevin Hogan fumbled the snap from center Graham Shuler, and Tyson Coleman recovered for the Ducks.
They got a field goal out of it, and when the Cardinal rolled to the Oregon 14, lightning struck again with two minutes left. Hogan couldn’t handle the snap from Johnny Caspers, a guard who takes over at center in short-yardage situations. Torrodney Prevot fell on the ball for Oregon.
The Cardinal had one last shot. Devon Cajuste was out of bounds while making a magnificent one-hand catch near the goal line, but the Ducks were called for pass interference.
That put the ball on the Oregon 9. The Ducks (7-3, 5-2) were penalized for having 12 men on the field, moving the ball to the 4. Hogan hit tight end Greg Taboada for a touchdown with 10 seconds left. But on the attempt for the tying two-point conversion, Hogan’s rushed pass intended for Austin Hooper was knocked down by linebacker Joe Walker.
Oregon has come to life in the last four games, with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. recovered from a broken finger he had sustained in the season opener. The big plays from the Ducks came fast and furious.
“If you make them go 3-4 yards at a time,’’ Shaw said, “you give yourself a chance. If you let them go 50 and 60, you get in a shootout like this.’’
Royce Freeman, the Pac-12’s leading rusher, bolted 49 yards on their second scrimmage play to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Kani Benoit. Freeman later scored from 19 yards out.
Charles Nelson sprinted 75 yards to a score. Adams eluded tacklers and fired a 47-yard touchdown pass to Darren Carrington. He hit Taj Griffin on a 49-yarder that gave Oregon a 35-23 lead near the end of the third quarter. Adams was an efficient 10-for-12 for 205 yards.
“We bottled him up for the most part as a runner, but we dropped coverage twice as he scrambled,’’ Shaw said.
Freeman rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, who entered the game second in the Pac-12 in rushing, rushed for 147 yards on 33 carries. He scored on an 11-yard run.
Hogan completed 28 of 37 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 22 yards for one score and threw for two more on short passes to Taboada in the fourth quarter.
Conrad Ukropina connected on field goals of 33, 23 and 49 but missed from 43. Shaw bemoaned his team’s having to settle for field goal tries rather than scoring touchdowns.
“Obviously it’s disappointing,’’ said Cardinal wide receiver Michael Rector, who had eight catches for 103 yards. “We could have clinched the North with a win. But our goal is to get to the Pac-12 championship, and that’s still in our grasp.’’
“Obviously it’s disappointing. We could have clinched the North with a win. But our goal is to get to the Pac-12 championship, and that’s still in our grasp.’’
Michael Rector, Cardinal wide receiver