In their last outing the Stanford Cardinal manhandled Oregon State 20-12 with a blitzing 3-4 defense that swarmed for 13 tackles for loss, including 8 sacks.
Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason attacked the Beavs with The Cardinal’s “Bear” defensive front, which aligns the three down linemen directly over the center and two tackles, forcing one-on-one matchups. He shot linebackers and safeties from every angle. OSU quarterback Sean Mannion was battered and harried, and his nation-leading passing attack managed just 271 yards, 17 on the ground with the sacks figured in, a paltry 3.7 yards per play.
Dragging the line: In one of the fateful plays of last year’s overtime loss to Stanford, Zach Ertz bobbles a pass at the back of the end zone, ruled a catch after review ((Nate Barrett/Emerald photo). The loss was the latest installment of a back-and-forth history with The Cardinal, costing the Ducks a shot at Notre Dame in the BCS finale.
Offensively, tailback Tyler Gaffney reduced the Beaver defense to sawdust, pounding them for 145 yards and 3 tds on 22 carries, 6.6 yards a hack. Kevin Hogan didn’t do much. He completed just 8 of 18 passes for 88 yards, but the defense limited their hosts to a single td and 2 field goals, and that was enough to spark a typically artless Stanford victory.
A week before David Shaw’s squad smothered Brett Hundley and UCLA, 24-10 in Palo Alto with same formula, relentless ground game, hard-hitting defense, adding an incredible one-handed 30-yard touchdown catch by Kodi Whitfield, leaping between two defenders for a ball he could barely reach. Running behind the big, powerful offensive line the Stanford student newspaper calls “The Tunnel Workers Union,” Gaffney hooked the Bruins for 171 yards on 36 carries, 2 tds, 4.8 a try.
It’s the line that’s the daunting challenge for Nick Aliotti’s defense. Senior guard David Yankey, 6-5, 313 is a consensus All-American and a probable first-round NFL draft pick. Senior right tackle Cameron Fleming is an actual rocket scientist, an Aeronautics and Astronautics major from Houston, Texas. He’s 6-6, 318. The Bruins didn’t sack Hogan once; in all opponents have gotten to him just 9 times all year.
The Cardinal offense has changed in one radical way. It used to feature play-action passing to the tight ends, but so far this year that group has caught just six passes, and the leading TE pass catcher Luke Kaumatule, who has three of those, has been shifted to defensive end after an injury to all-conference stud Ben Gardner, out for the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
The outside receivers have improved, though. They’ve gotten big plays from Whitfield, Ty Montgomery and Devon Cajuste. The three have combined for 10 touchdowns, including strikes of 57, 46 and 30 yards. It’s an element the team lacked in prior years, combined with Gaffney and the defense, a formidable challenge.
Stanford is the anti-Oregon in many ways. For the last four years the game has been for BCS bowls and shots at the national title, and the teams have split the series 2-2. Oregon has the flashy uniforms and the no-huddle spread offense. The Cardinal are old-school smashmouth. They employ one formation where 6-5, 316 tackle Josh Garnett lines up as the “Ogre” tight end, another that features nine linemen, Gaffney, and Hogan, daring opponents to stop the run. They frequently can’t.
In 2009, when Shaw was offensive coordinator and Jim Harbaugh was head coach, Toby Gerhart battered the Ducks for 223 yards on the ground, much of it from the power formations in a 52-41 upset victory. Last year the Cardinal and White stifled the Ducks in overtime 17-14, behind 161 yards from Stepfan Taylor, while holding Marcus Mariota and the Oregon offense to their worst output in recent memory.
2001 also rankles. That season Joey Harrington and the Ducks were undefeated, ranked #5 and headed to their first national title game until the Cardinal ended a 23-game winning streak at Autzen Stadium with a fourth quarter comeback.
Stanford blocked two punts, executed a successful onside kick and forced an interception to overcome a two-touchdown lead, an unfolding nightmare of playing not to lose for Duck fans, one of the most bitter defeats in school history.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
