Defense rises to its toughest challenge
EUGENE, Ore. — The nation’s toughest defense against the run gave up 198 yards rushing Saturday night and considered it a major victory.
Against the racehorse Oregon offense, Stanford’s defense was at its best, playing better than it had in any of its previous stellar efforts.
It had just one sack, by Trent Murphy, but nine tackles for a loss.
“We trust each other to do their jobs,’’ linebacker A.J. Tarpley said.
Tarpley had an interception off quarterback Marcus Mariota just before halftime, Shayne Skov had a team-high 10 tackles, and safety Devon Carrington ran down Mariota on a 77-yard run — head coach David Shaw called it “the play of the game.’’
Mariota, a very quick runner, had the longest run against Stanford this year, but it didn’t result in any points because Josh Mauro stopped Mariota for no gain on a 4th-and-1 play. Fumble-itis: Kelsey Young and Stepfan Taylor lost fumbles, both caused by cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, who leads the nation with six forced fumbles. But the Ducks didn’t capitalize on either. Alejandro Maldonado, who would miss a field goal in overtime, was wide left from 42 yards after Young’s fumble, and the defense forced a three-and-out after Taylor’s. Title picture: If the Cardinal beat Pac-12 South Division winner UCLA next week, they will win the North Division. If Stanford loses to UCLA and the Ducks lose to Oregon State, the Cardinal would win the division because of head-tohead wins over the Ducks and Beavers.
Stanford has not won the conference championship since the 1999 season, when it went to the Rose Bowl under Tyrone Willingham. Briefly: Taylor rushed for 161 yards on 33 carries, leaving him 8 yards from 4,000 yards rushing in his career. … Stanford marched 93 yards — matching its longest drive of the year — to score on quarterback Kevin
Hogan’s dive early in the second quarter. … The big play of the drive, which lasted just over seven minutes, was a 24-yard pass play to Young. … Oregon was held without a point in the first quarter for the first time since the USC game in 2011.
Oregon linebacker Michael Clay, out of Bellarmine-San Jose, had an extraordinary game with 20 tackles, including 10 solos. … Since Stanford played No. 2 USC earlier, the Cardinal are the only team this season to play a No. 1- and No. 2-ranked team. … The win over the No. 1 football team came a day after the women’s basketball team beat No. 1 Baylor.