Oregon rolls in Civil War

PALO ALTO, Calif. —

Much was made in the pregame buildup of the clash of styles between Oregon and Stanford. The Ducks run around teams. The Cardinal run through teams.

In the battle of speed versus size, speed won.

Running backs LaMichael James and De’Anthony Thomas and wide receiver Josh Huff flaunted their open-field abilities Saturday to help Oregon torch Stanford 53-30 and take control of the Pac-12 North on a mild night in front of 50,360 at Stanford Stadium.

Fourth-and-7 at the Stanford 41 late in the first half, and everybody knew that Oregon coach Chip Kelly would go for it.

Stanford blitzed, and quarterback Darron Thomas dumped a pass to De’Anthony Thomas, who flew down the sideline untouched to score and give Oregon a 22-9 lead.

“If you give De’Anthony that much open space, he’ll turn it into the end zone,” Kelly said later.

It was just one of many instances when the Ducks used their speed to snap Stanford’s 17-game winning streak, which was the longest in the nation.

“I think speed was a factor, but we didn’t overwhelm them,” Kelly said. “We felt with our athleticism we matched up well with them.”

Oregon (No. 7 in the BCS coming into the game) also kept its slim national title aspirations alive with the first road victory over a top-five team in program history.

What was expected among many college football talking heads and fans to be a thrilling shootout to the bitter end was not even competitive in the fourth quarter, thanks to Oregon’s speed on offense and its ability to pressure Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck on defense.

James finished with 146 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He has 528 yards and seven touchdowns in his last three games against the Cardinal.

A nationally televised game that was supposed to be a showcase for Heisman Trophy favorite and projected NFL top draft pick Luck turned into a showcase for James.

Off the national radar after missing two games with an elbow injury, James proved himself a worthy Heisman candidate against Stanford (No. 4 in the BCS as of Saturday). Let’s not forget that he leads the nation in yards per game.

“We just needed to get into a groove and I thought we did,” James said.

And Luck?

Well, Luck was un-Luck-like in what many were calling the biggest game in Stanford football history. He threw two costly interceptions (one of which deflected off his receiver) and was sacked three times.

The Duck defense made Luck look downright human. Oregon was able to get pressure on him all night, just like the Ducks showed they could do the previous week against Washington.

Stanford finished with five turnovers and had just 400 yards of offense — after coming into the game averaging 505 yards per game.

“Tonight, those kids were magical,” said Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti of his defense.

“Every week we get better and better,” added Oregon defensive end Terrell Turner. “I feel this week was our best performance. They were physical, but we had to be just as physical. We want to play our game and shock people, and that’s what we did.”

Luck threw into double coverage near the sideline in the first quarter, and Dewitt Stuckey intercepted the pass and returned it 30 yards deep into Stanford territory.

Soon thereafter, quarterback Thomas found Lavasier Tuinei in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown that sent the Duck crowd into a frenzy. UO supporters were loud enough that it was hard to tell which was the home team. Rowdy Oregon fans covered nearly two entire corners of the stadium.

At the end of the first quarter, Oregon’s offensive output was minus-1 yard. Yet the Ducks held an 8-0 lead on the scoreboard thanks to the Stuckey interception.

Oregon was in need of some of its typical game-changing plays from its game-changing players.

Apparently they just needed one quarter to feel out the aggressive Stanford defense.

James slipped past an initial set of defenders and was gone for a 58-yard touchdown run/jog to give Oregon a 15-6 lead early in the second quarter.

Huff did a nifty De’Anthony Thomas impersonation on a 59-yard touchdown catch to open the second half, cutting back and forth to shake Stanford defenders on his way to the end zone for a 29-16 lead.

“Anytime you get those guys in those situations, more often than not, those guys get it done,” said Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. “(Stanford) was blitzing some guys and taking some risks, and you’re not going to get a 4- or 5-yard gain. It’s going to be boom or bust at times, and our guys ground through the bust and made a couple of timely booms.”

Kelly said getting that first score of the second half was crucial.

“We thought we could drive down the field and score and extend the lead,” Kelly said. “That was a big catch by Huff, and he made a guy miss. Having everyone contribute is big … being balanced and not just being a one-dimensional offense.”

It was fourth-and-2 for Oregon at Stanford’s 4-yard line midway through the third quarter, and again, everybody knew what Kelly was thinking — as if he really even thought about a field goal attempt. James slashed up the middle for an easy touchdown to give Oregon a 36-16 lead, insurmountable even for Luck.

The brand new sleek, silver Pac-12 Championship trophy sat in the corner of the press box at Stanford Stadium during the game Saturday.

Oregon could be hoisting it in the air soon.

The Ducks can now lose one of their two remaining games (USC next Saturday and the Civil War against Oregon State on Nov. 26, both at home) and still host the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 2, likely against Arizona State or UCLA.

But Oregon still has hope for winning a much more prominent trophy, that of the national champion.

The Ducks need a lot of help to play for the national title for the second straight season. They got some from TCU, which upset Boise State on Saturday.

Oregon should move into at least the top five of the BCS standings when they are announced later today, but the Ducks still need more teams ahead of them to lose. And they are hampered by voters not wanting to see in the title game a rematch of the Oregon-LSU meeting that opened the season.

Best for Duck fans to ignore the national implications and focus on what the impressive victory over Stanford means. Oregon is on track for its third straight conference championship and perhaps another trip to the Rose Bowl, after proving Saturday night in Palo Alto that speed CAN beat size.