Thursday night proved to be a Pac-12 battle that didn’t disappoint. Number 3 Oregon came down to play Number 5 Stanford, and this proved to be a game for the books.
The Stanford side started off very strong; putting the home crowd Cardinal fans in good spirits. Stanford was up 17-0 against the ducks at half time. This left the Oregon fans stunned, seeing as there powerhouse offense was letting them down.
Oregon was scoreless for three quarters, and came back in the fourth quarter scoring 20 points. This wasn’t enough because for a second year in a row, the Stanford Cardinal was able to defeat the Oregon ducks 26-20.
According to Yahoo Sports in the locker room, Stanford’s coach, David Shaw said, “We don’t worry about what anyone says of us. We let everybody talk about what they want to talk about. We just play football.”
This game is very important in regards to the BCS football title and the Pac-12 championship. Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney, had an incredible game with rushing 157 yards and a touchdown on a school record of 45 carries. Gaffney told ESPN.com that “It’s huge. I think the whole nation knows, and us especially, that this is a play-in game for the Pac-12 North. To be able to win the Pac-12 championship, you have to go through Oregon or you have to go through us. That is the mentality.”
With a big USC game coming up for Stanford, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes for both of these powerhouse teams. For now, there will be many celebrations at Stanford.