That final score is becoming a habit for the Oregon Ducks.
For the second week in a row, the Ducks defeated the opponent 42-6. This time is was Stanford after crushing Colorado by the same tally. But the two games had vastly different feelings.
Oregon dominated the Buffaloes last week for 60 minutes, but that can’t be said of the Cardinal. For a quarter, Stanford controlled both sides of the ball, limiting the Duck offense. Once Oregon got rolling, however, it was all Ducks.
Bo Nix was 28-of-33 passing for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Troy Franklin caught seven passes for 117 yards and two scores and both tailbacks, Bucky Irving and Jordan James racked up 88 yards each. They both also added a touchdown.
While the offense was gaining its bearings and figuring things out, the Oregon defense continued to show its one of the better units in the Pac-12 and the country. Oregon held Stanford to just 222 total yards and kept them out of the end zone the entire game. Only two long field goals dented the Cardinal side of the scoreboard.
Head coach Dan Lanning has been harping on how penalties have hurt his team this year and he’s been right, but the second-year coach will look down at the stat sheet and smile. Oregon was flagged just twice for 20 yards, easily a season-best.
Down 6-0 with 14:55 in the second quarter, Oregon managed to put a drive together. In six plays, the Ducks went 69 yards in a little over two minutes and it ended with James’ 30-yard touchdown. Stanford had dominated, but all it took was one drive for the Ducks to take a 7-6 lead.
They were far from done.
Oregon had figured out some stuff and found some confidence. They took a 14-6 lead on their next drive, a 76-yard jaunt down the field ending with Irving’s 18-yard run.
Unfortunately, the first half didn’t end so well as kicker Camden Lewis missed a 38-yard field goal attempt. It was his first miss of the season. However, it would far from matter.
Nix opened the second half with a 10-yard touchdown to tight end Terrance Ferguson on a 4th-and-2 play. It was Ferguson’s first score of the season.
Just two minutes later, Nix put the nail in Stanford’s coffin with a 46-yard strike to his favorite target, Franklin, who juked one Cardinal defender and outran another for his first score of the night to make it 28-6.
At this point, the Duck defense was playing great and the same couldn’t be said of Stanford’s offense. It was one-dimensional and forced to play with backup Justin Lamson at quarterback. They were playing both Lamson and Ashton Daniels, the better passer of the two, until Daniels was forced out with an injury.
Franklin added another touchdown in the third and early in the fourth, Nix found Traeshon Holden on a slant for an 11-yard touchdown.
The Ducks are now 5-0 for the season for the first time since 2013 and should move up in the polls. Oregon has a bye week coming before a huge game in Seattle with Washington. Assuming the Huskies, who also have a bye week, stay undefeated, it will be the biggest game in the country and ESPN College Gameday will likely show up.