No. 13 Stanford ruins No. 1 Oregon's perfect season

George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

EUGENE, Ore. – From the far side of the field, Devon Carrington wasn't sure what had happened. Blown assignments, certainly. Missed tackles, probably. Whatever, Oregon's Marcus Mariota was running free down the sideline, and we all knew how this would end.

How do you stop a blur?

"They're always on the verge," Stanford coach David Shaw said of the Ducks – and he meant touchdowns, and blowouts, and maybe even a BCS championship. But Carrington ran Mariota down from behind. A few plays later, after the Cardinal stuffed the quarterback on fourth-and-short inside the 10, the 77-yard run was just a statistic.

And a few dozen plays after that, Oregon's lead in the chase for the crystal football was simply a memory.

"You'd love to have some words that could kind of take the pain out of it," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "But there aren't any."

Stanford's 17-14 victory in overtime shook up the big picture, and maybe we should not be surprised. Chaos in November is the BCS era's default mode. See Texas A&M upsetting Alabama. See Baylor beating Kansas State. And see Carrington running down Mariota.

It took Jordan Williamson's 37-yard field goal in overtime to set off the celebration – and there's a story there, after the kicker had two huge misses last season in the Fiesta Bowl and another in the fourth quarter Saturday. But there also were defensive stops and a late drive for the tying touchdown and any number of other things that combined for an upset Carrington said, "feels amazing, to behonest."

Anyone who saw Stanford's celebration – or watched the Ducks trudge off the field – didn't need the explanation.

"Life happens, you know?" Oregon linebacker Michael Clay said.

Yep. And by now, we should all expect life in the BCS era to be crazy, chaotic and completely unscripted. And painful. Mariota noted, "We don't live in a bubble," and added:

"But that's one game. It doesn't define our season."

Probably, though, it does. The Ducks are not completely out of the BCS title picture – if the past two weekends have taught us anything, it's that nothing is certain until the last games have been played and the final standings are unveiled – but they were unceremoniously dumped from the driver's seat. A national championship? Right now, they need help just to get into the Pac-12 championship game.

Stanford (8-2, 7-1 Pac-12) now owns the tiebreaker in the Pac-12 North. A victory Saturday at UCLA would set up, get this, a rematch the next Friday with the Bruins in the Pac-12 championship game. Oregon, meanwhile, must beat Oregon State, hope UCLA beats Stanford – and beyond the Pac-12, hope chaos again ensues elsewhere in the country in the next two weekends.

It's possible, but highly unlikely.

Kind of like what Stanford achieved at Autzen Stadium, which left a capacity crowd that is known for its volume stunned into silence. Never mind the finish, which included a grinding drive for a touchdown that tied it at 14 with 95 seconds left, and then an overtime possession by the Ducks that encapsulated the evening – three plays gained one yard, and a field goal doinked off the upright – before Williamson's kick won it.

Stanford shut down Kelly's scoring machine in a way no one anticipated. Oregon entered averaging nearly 55 points, and had scored at least 30 in 23 consecutive games, an FBS-level record. The Ducks averaged 325 rushing yards, 563 total yards. They managed 405 total, 198 rushing, and two touchdowns.

"They were scoring a million points a game," Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor said. "To only see 14 on the scoreboard – that's amazing."

It's especially so, considering what had happened in these teams' most recent meetings. Two years running, Oregon had sprinted away from Stanford's strong defense. Heck, even three years ago when Stanford won, it was a wild shootout. You could have predicted an upset, maybe, but no one would have expected a defensive slugfest reminiscent of a Saturday in the SEC.

The recipe wasn't complicated. Stanford played its base defense, mixed coverage and pressure, controlled the line of scrimmage – and oh, tackled very well. Shaw said, "You didn't see any of those long runs for touchdowns."

That's the most surprising thing, isn't it? Oregon never really found a rhythm, but the Ducks also couldn't pop the highlights we've come to expect. They'll lament mistakes and missed opportunities, but Stanford missed plenty, as well. Shaw said he knew victory would come only after "withstanding a mad rush" – something like the romp Mariota went on midway through the first quarter.

No score, and Stanford had punted the Ducks back to their 8. Mariota dropped back, then took off down the right side. He was joined around midfield by De'Anthony Thomas, and for an instant, it was just the two of them, running down the sideline.

Carrington arrived, and first, a little back story: When the video game NCAA '13 arrived, Carrington's teammates chuckled to learn the defensive back wearing his No. 5 jersey was the fastest player on the Stanford team. They were delighted to see the real thing moving very quickly in a critical situation.

"He's sneaky," Taylor said. "He doesn't look like he's running fast, but he is."

Anyway, Carrington got there. And for some reason, Thomas – in perfect position to shield his quarterback and set up the touchdown – seemed oblivious to the danger. Don't miss that; it's part of the reason Oregon went down Saturday night.

Sometimes, a blur is not self-aware.

"I assumed he was gonna try to block me at some point," Carrington said. "Maybe he didn't think I was gonna get there."

Said Thomas: "I didn't even really see the guy." And a moment later, he added: "I thought (Mariota) was gonna outrun the dude."

So did everybody.

Instead, Carrington pushed Mariota out of bounds. And Stanford pushed Oregon out of the BCS race.