For the first time since 2014, College Gameday will return to Eugene, Oregon, as No. 7 Stanford will play No. 20 Oregon in a traditional Pac 12 clash. Before that dreaded program in Seattle became good again, Stanford-Oregon was the marquee game of not just the Pac 12 North, but the entire conference.
To celebrate the occasion of the Oregon-Stanford game returning to national prominence, I figured to rundown my favorite games between the two schools.
Oregon vs Stanford 2008
This one gets overlooked a lot as far as memorable clashes. Oregon was only 6-3, fighting for bowl position and Stanford was 5-4, fighting for bowl eligibility. A very wet day in Eugene resulted in a ton of fumbles for both teams. Jeremiah Masoli was incredibly frustrating in this one. So was Stanford's offense as Jim Harabaugh was in the stages of really modeling the program in his image at this point. LeGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson were fantastic as they rushed for a combined 225 yards and three touchdowns. Seeing Blount run made me think about how fortunate we were to have an NFL back like him right after Jonathan Stewart left. On the day, Oregon rushed for 307 yards. Down 28-27, Blount had the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds. This game is particularly memorable for me as I had no means to watch the contest due to living in Florida and listened to the radio broadcast while following the ESPN gamecast. RIP FCS Pacific.
Oregon vs Stanford 2010
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments in College Gameday history is Chip Kelly walking around as Puddles The Duck, surprising the fans around him. A top 10 matchup, this game got off to an auspicious start for Oregon, trailing 21-3 after the first quarter. Of course, we all remember what happened from there. The 2010 season is probably my favorite Ducks football season. The uniforms were good, the team played with an incredible amount of swagger and Oregon was damn good.
Oregon vs Stanford 2011
The apex of Stanford having an "Oregon problem." LMJ, DAT and Josh Huff were fantastic and proved to be too fast for Stanford's defense. Aside from the Rose Bowl, this was probably Darron Thomas' best performance in a big game as he was efficient and rarely made a bad read. This was probably Stanford's best team since David Shaw/Jim Harbaugh arrived on The Farm and we ruined their dream of appearing in the National Championship pretty easily.
This Saturday night when Oregon-Stanford clash, I'm hopeful that the Ducks will revert back to their winning ways over the Cardinal. I'm cautiously optimistic. Win or lose, I have a feeling we'll be awarded another classic.
So what's your favorite Oregon-Stanford game?
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