Oregon vs. Stanford Recap: Cardinal Dominate Ducks, Take Control Of Pac-12 North

Duck fans thought that this game would be domination. It was domination, all right.

Oregon got manhandled by Stanford. On both lines. Stanford rushed for 274 yards. Oregon rushed for 61. Stanford held the ball for more than three quarters. Stanford did whatever the hell they wanted to do. A late comeback showed some life, but it was far too late to make any difference. An inability to stop Stanford's rushing attack, big red zone turnovers, an inability to tackle, and a general lack of toughness did away any chance of winning this one.

I'm not sure why this team allows themselves to get dominated at the point of attack. A few years ago, size could be pointed to as an issue. That excuse doesn't fly anymore. Last year they said they overlooked Stanford. That excuse doesn't fly anymore. They got their asses kicked by a more physical team that wanted it more. That's just the ugly truth.

Marcus Mariota's knee isn't right, and it looks like rumors of an MCL sprain have proven true. He didn't look to run at all and had trouble moving in the pocket. His health will be a major component of what Oregon can do moving forward.

We've said it before--it's really damn hard to go undefeated. Oregon doesn't get upset by bad teams, and you have to give them credit for that. But this game was a bad sequel of a bad movie that we saw last year. Stanford was the tougher, more disciplined team.

Again.