Oregon Ducks vs. Stanford Cardinal

Oregon Ducks wide receiver Daryle Hawkins (16) scores against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium.

(Bruce Ely / The Oregonian)

EUGENE – Though Oregon’s Thursday loss to Stanford requires significant upheaval for it to re-enter the BCS National Championship Game discussion, the Ducks’ fall to sixth in Sunday’s latest BCS standings means UO still has an argument for a trip to other, high-profile bowl games.

With a .766 rating, Oregon fell from third to sixth after the 26-20 loss to Stanford – ESPN analyst David Pollack said Sunday that UO “got dump-trucked” in the loss -- which moved the Cardinal up one spot to fourth in the latest standings released Sunday evening.

"There's certainly a lot of emotions to go into it, and there's so much left to play for, in every regard," Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich said Sunday evening on his usual teleconference with reporters.

The Cardinal and Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) are the BCS standings’ highest ranked one-loss teams. No. 1 Alabama (.996) and No. 2 Florida State (.962) retained their powerful grips on the top two spots, distancing themselves from a chase pack that includes No. 3 Ohio State (.893), Stanford (.869) and No. 5 Baylor (.862).

Rounding out the top 10, Auburn is seventh, Clemson is eighth, Missouri is ninth and South Carolina is 10th. UCLA is the next-highest ranked Pac-12 team at 13th.

The Ducks will need nearly the entire BCS top five to lose before it can reclaim the date in the Rose Bowl for the national championship game it was on track for before Thursday’s brutal defeat in front of a national ESPN audience.

"The leaders on this team have already done a great job of rallying the troops for lack of a better phrase," Helfrich said. "Our guys will practice hard tomorrow. They will bounce back and we will turn the page. we will have normal set of meetings.”

To play in a fifth consecutive BCS game, however, UO won't need to rely on others.

If it can win out against Utah at home, Arizona in Tucson and Oregon State at Autzen Stadium to close the regular season, UO still is projected to be a part of an elite bowl game.

Bowl projections for the Ducks range from the Sugar Bowl against Texas A&M, as predicted by BCSguru.com, and the Orange Bowl against Clemson, according to Jerry Palm of CBS.

That positive outlook hinges on the health of quarterback Marcus Mariota's left knee, however. Once called a front-runner for the first Heisman Trophy in program history, Mariota was visibly hurt after a third-quarter sack and fumble. He was helped off the field by teammates before returning to lead UO to a three-touchdown comeback in the loss's final five minutes.

Asked about the state of Mariota's health Sunday, Helfrich said, "I don’t know. We will find out tomorrow. but we will keep that in house, obviously."

Redshirt freshman Jeff Lockie holds a narrow lead for UO's backup quarterback over classmate Jake Rodrigues, Helfrich said, because "

Jeff is taking care of the ball a little better and that has been the key factor."

Earlier Sunday, Oregon was ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll of media, falling four spots from a week ago. The Ducks were ranked as high as fourth and as low as 10th in that poll. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Ducks fell to seventh.