Oregon’s loss bad for Pac-12 hopes
STANFORD, Calif. — The Pacific-12 has been fighting with the SEC for years to be considered the nation’s toughest conference. That might finally be the case this season — though to the Pac12’s detriment.
In the aftermath of BCS No. 5 Stanford’s 26-20 victory over No. 3 Oregon on Thursday night, the league is left without an undefeated team and once again searching for a way to crack the BCS championship game.
“We don’t hold the cards anymore,” first-year Ducks Coach Mark Helfrich said. “But we never hold the cards.”
At the very least, Oregon had quite a hand before entering Stanford Stadium.
The Cardinal (8-1, 6-1 Pac12) dominated the Ducks (8-1, 5-1) for more than three quarters before holding off a furious Oregon rally and winning a game that likely put the Pac12 out of the national championship race again.
Stanford and Oregon have been among the nation’s best programs the past four seasons. The depth of the conference is finally starting to catch up, turning the league into what the SEC has been for so many years: a twomonth fight that nobody survives unscathed.
The next step for the Pac12 might be gaining enough respect that — like the SEC — even a one-loss team won’t be knocked out of contention, which should be helped when the four-team playoff begins next season. No one-loss team from the Pac-12 has ever played for the BCS title.
The undefeated Ducks played for the BCS title following the 2010 season, when they lost to Auburn. The Pac12 has pounded itself out of the mix ever since, and this season appears to be no exception.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Oregon-Stanford game turned out to be a spoiler’s delight. The loser was handed its first defeat of the season, and if the pattern holds true from the previous three years, it’ll also be the only thing keeping the loser — in this case Oregon — out of the BCS championship game in January.
The Cardinal’s convincing victory over the Ducks — holding the ball for 42½ minutes, rushing 66 times for 274 yards — will likely not be enough for them to work their way into the BCS title game unless at least three of the top four teams (Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor) all lose. And even that might not be enough.
In a year that the Pac-12 had the inside track for a berth in the BCS title game, Stanford can thank its perplexing loss at Utah (4-4, 1-4) last month for derailing those dreams.
“People may say we’re overrated. That’s fine. That’s no big deal. What we have is the next down to make,” Stanford Coach David Shaw said. “That’s for us. That’s what our guys have to understand. We get football. We get the games. Let everybody else talk and do whatever they want. But for us, we get to play football and that’s what our guys love to do.”
BIG 12
Defense solid for Baylor
WACO, Texas — Baylor is still undefeated, and quite defensive about it.
When their fast-paced, high-scoring offense sputtered early, the sixth-ranked Bears’ largely overshadowed but consistently solid defense kept stopping No. 10 Oklahoma.
While the Bears (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) finished with a lopsided 41-12 victory Thursday night, Oklahoma managed only a field goal despite seven plays at the 12 or closer over consecutive drives before Baylor scored three touchdowns in the final 7 minutes of the first half — two in a 47-second span just before the break.
“Defensively, they really were all over us all day,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “Everyone talks about their offense, which is really good. But I knew that their defense is really good.”
Oklahoma (7-2, 4-2) was held to 237 total yards, its lowest total in an 85-game span since the 2007 season. The Sooners lost yardage on eight plays, got nothing on five more and had six plays gaining only 1 yard. They converted on third down only four of 17 times.
“Our defense played outstanding,” Bears quarterback Bryce Petty said. “One of the best games I think I’ve ever seen them play. They keep us in it. … Any time that we can get a stop on defense, then swing back over to us, it helps us out a lot.”
Petty accounted for five touchdowns, throwing three and running for two more. Both his rushing touchdowns came in that late firsthalf surge, including a 5-yard keeper that put the Bears ahead to stay at 10-5.
After third-ranked Oregon’s first loss of the season, 26-20, at No. 5 Stanford, topranked Alabama, No. 2 Florida State and No. 4 Ohio State, all traditional powers, as the only undefeated teams ahead of Baylor.
Baylor Coach Art Briles, who six years ago took over a team with 12 consecutive losing seasons, isn’t too caught up in all that.
“We’ve played eight football games and when the season started, we were not ranked,” Briles said. “Everything we’ve done, we’ve earned it up to this point.”