Oregon Ducks vs Stanford Cardinal LIVE Radio Broadcast: Mariota and Company Look to Keep BCS Dreams Alive in Palo Alto (LISTEN)
ByThe Oregon Ducks (3) are determined to make the BCS National Championship a three-team race and, standing in their way a second year in a row, is the Stanford Cardinal (5).
Last year, Stanford dashed the Ducks' hope a National Championship bid by beating them 17-14 in overtime in Oregon. This year, the Ducks will visit Palo Alto to try and return the favor to the Cardinal.
Oregon is 8-0 this year, winning all five PAC-12 games thus far, but Stanford may not factor very much into the year's biggest college football game, barring major upsets and losses from the team's ahead of them. They are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the PAC-12, losing to Utah in week 6.
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Marcus Mariota, Oregon's sophomore quarterback, was poised to challenge Johnny Manziel for the Heisman Trophy last year, but Stanford's defense dashed those hopes as well. This year, stopping Mariota is going to be vital to stopping the Oregon offense.
Oregon was ranked first in the nation when they lost to Stanford last year and, in 21 starts in his college football career, it is his only loss. Mariota has thrown 20 touchdowns, ran for nine, accumulated 2,281 yards in the air and 511 on the ground. He has thrown no interceptions and has fumbled twice, his only two turnovers of the season and they each came during the same game.
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"I thought last year he was the best quarterback in the nation, and I feel the same way this year," Stanford head coach David Shaw told the Associated Press. "I don't care about stats. Stats don't mean anything. You watch the film, you see a kid that makes every throw. Every throw is accurate. Twenty touchdowns and no interceptions? Every ball is perfect, every ball is in stride, every ball there's no wobble on it. Everything's pretty."
Oregon also has a nice combination of running backs that have helped the Ducks rank second in the nation in rushing yards per game. They also rank second in total yards and total points.
Also last year, Stanford snapped Oregon's three-year reign as PAC-12 champions. Stanford has been holding their opponents to an average of 19.4 points per game and, to beat Oregon, they are going to have to have a strong defensive output as well as an offense that can keep Mariota off the field.