By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Oregon’s defense wasn’t about to let a possible statement game be spoiled in the last few words.

The Ducks held Stanford to just a field goal in the second half of Saturday’s 45-16 victory in Autzen Stadium, in no small part by stopping the Cardinal from the 2-yard line on its final possession. Though they substituted elsewhere, the Ducks kept starters on the line in the game, holding Stanford scoreless after the Cardinal had earned a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line.

“It was beautiful,” said one of those starters who remained in the game on that stand, junior end DeForest Buckner. “Coming into the game, coach told us it doesn’t need to be close. You’ve got to strike first and you’ve got to strike often. That’s what we did.”

In support of an offense that got untracked against Stanford for the first time in three years, Oregon’s defense allowed the Cardinal just one touchdown Saturday and helped the Ducks win the turnover battle on the night. Erick Dargan led the UO defense with 12 tackles and two turnovers forced, but the entire unit helped hold Stanford to just 3.4 yards per carry.

“As a defense we can’t come out and depend on the offense – and we don’t,” Dargan said. “I think this game showed we can come out and play good, hard football, and that we can be elite. And this is the first game we showed it all four quarters.”

While Oregon’s offense converted its first three possessions into touchdowns, the UO defense didn’t let Stanford turn the evening into a shootout. The Ducks allowed Stanford to convert just 1-of-3 third downs in the first quarter – the Cardinal went 14-of-21 a year earlier – and made them settle for field goals in response to those UO touchdowns.

The Ducks weren’t perfect – Stanford did convert two third downs in driving to its only touchdown, late in the first half. Even Dargan, who had the biggest game statistically, mentioned afterward that he had three missed tackles to go with those other stats.

But after a first half in which neither team turned the ball over, Dargan intercepted a ball on Stanford’s drive to open the second half. Then, on the third play of the fourth quarter, Dargan forced a fumble that Tony Washington recovered, setting up a Marcus Mariota rushing touchdown that broke the game open at 38-16.

“I thought it was good out of the gate, and I was glad to see us actually finish,” Washington said. “There were still some mistakes in there, but I think for once as a group we played pretty well.”

Washington said he thought there were times early in Oregon’s win at UCLA on Oct. 11 when the Ducks played at an even higher level. But the Bruins scored 20 points in the fourth quarter that day to leave a bad taste in the UO defense’s collective mouth.

There was no repeat of that Saturday against Stanford. “It was simple – we had to run to the ball, we had to tackle and we had to take the ball away,” Washington said. “That’s what coaches were reminding us – at the end of the day it comes down to those three things, and I think we did a better job of that in the second half.”

Like a win earlier this season over Michigan State, Saturday’s win over Stanford will serve as a rebuttal to the argument that Oregon’s defense struggles to contain “power” running teams. The Ducks spent this past offseason working to get stronger in the weight room for just such physical battles, and it paid off again Saturday, no more so than on the goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s definitely satisfying when you work all offseason for teams like this,” Buckner said. “People telling you you’re too small, you’re weak, even that you don’t belong at this level. It’s a satisfying feeling.”