Oct 20, 2001
Eugene, OR. (AP) - Stanford is used to costing Oregon huge victories.Saturday's upset, however, might be remembered for ages by Ducks fans as theone that got away - again and again.
Kerry Carter bulled in for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:10 remaining as theCardinal beat fifth-ranked Oregon 49-42 in a game that had everything butaliens landing on the Autzen Stadium turf.
Stanford (4-1, 3-1 Pac-10) rallied from a 42-28 fourth-quarter deficit byblocking a punt and intercepting Oregon's Joey Harrington pass, turning bothturnovers into touchdowns. But the Ducks' Seth McEwen deflected Mike Biselli'sextra point with 5:32 left, leaving Oregon with a 42-41 lead.
All Oregon (6-1, 3-1) had to do was salt away the clock, but on third-and-1from his own 30, Harrington was hit by safety Tank Williams and the ballfloated into the hands of diving defensive end Marcus Hoover at the 33.
On third-and-goal from the 3, Carter was stopped at the line of scrimmage,but got a push from his line to get into the end zone for his fourth touchdown.
Harrington has directed nine fourth-quarter comebacks, but the farthest hecould guide the Ducks in the final seconds was the Stanford 37. He threw fourstraight incompletions, with the final pass sailing out of the end zone as timeexpired.
Not only did Stanford stop Oregon's nation-best 23-game home winning streak,it ruined an undefeated record by the Ducks for the eighth time since 1964. TheCardinal kept the Ducks from getting to the Rose Bowl with a 1995 win, but thisone dashed Oregon's dreams of higher goals.
A sensational duel between Harrington and Stanford's Randy Fasani ended whenFasani sprained his right knee in the second quarter, and the game quickly gaveway to an unpredictable battle decided by special teams.
| Audio/Video from |
| VIDEO: Stanford's Teyo Johnson outjumps the defender, then wrestles the ball away for a TD. 56k |100k |300k VIDEO: Oregon's Keenan Howry makes a diving catch in the end zone for his second touchdown of the day. VIDEO: Teyo Johnson hauls in a Randy Fasani bomb, setting up a Stanford touchdown. VIDEO: Joey Harrington hits an open Justin Peelle in the end zone. |
Oregon went ahead 35-21 when Keenan Howry returned a punt 69 yards for atouchdown with 7:37 left in the third quarter. After Stanford came back with a28-yard scoring pass from backup Chris Lewis to Teyo Johnson, the Ducks'Onterrio Smith ran the kickoff back 96 yards to put Oregon ahead 42-28.
The Cardinal got new life by blocking the next two punts by Jose Arroyo. Thefirst one, by Alex Smith, produced nothing, as cornerback Rashad Bauman hitStanford tight end Brett Pierce so hard in the end zone he knocked the ballaway on fourth-and-goal from the 7.
Stanford converted Amon Gordon's blocked punt into a touchdown, however,when Lewis hit an open Luke Powell for 24 yards to pull the Cardinal to 42-35with 9:09 to play.
Stanford surprised the Ducks with an onside kick, recovering the ball atOregon's 40. Eight plays later, Carter scored from a yard out to get within apoint.
After the earlier extra point was blocked, Stanford didn't mess around withanother kick on the go-ahead score. Johnson outleaped Bauman for the 2-pointconversion pass for a 49-42 lead.
Harrington was 22-of-41 for 270 yards with three touchdowns and twointerceptions. Howry caught nine passes for 152 yards and two scores.
Lewis was 12-of-26 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Both teams put up points and yards at an astonishing rate in the firstquarter, and the game was tied at 14 just 11:34 into the game.
Harrington passed for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the opening periodalone, and the senior never looked better than on the Ducks' third scoringdrive.
On first down from his own 48, Harrington scrambled for 13 yards, then washit near the sideline by Tank Williams. Harrington absorbed the impact,gestured at Williams and threw the ball at the defender's feet.
On the next play, Harrington floated a 39-yard pass to Howry, who dovemidway into the end zone for the touchdown and a 21-14 lead late in thequarter.
Stanford responded with a 4-minute scoring drive, but Fasani was injured ona second-and-9 scramble from the Oregon 14. Ducks lineman Zach Freiter drilledFasani at the 9, but the helmet-to-helmet hit hurt both players.
Fasani left with a sprained right knee and spent the rest of the game on thesideline with a large brace on it. He already wears one on his left knee froman old injury. Freiter left with a blow to the head.
Lewis replaced Fasani and, on fourth-and-1 from the 6, handed off to Carterfor the touchdown to tie the game at 21.
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer