THE STANFORD FOOTBALL team opens the Pac-12 North season against No. 3 Oregon on Saturday at Stanford Stadium still in a position to accomplish its goals despite a 2-2 start.
Coming off a 35-24 home-opening loss to UCLA last week, Stanford still can put itself in the driver's seat in the division race.
This will be Stanford's first matchup with an Oregon team ranked this high since 2013, when the Cardinal held off the No. 2 Ducks, 26-20, at Stanford Stadium on the way to its second consecutive Rose Bowl appearance.
What's the mood of the Cardinal while approaching this game?
"Driven is probably a good word for it," said fifth-year defensive end/tight end Tucker Fisk. "The loss on Saturday really hit hard for a lot of the guys. We all know we're better than we put on tape and we can be a lot better as a team.
"We're motivated and excited to show what we can do against a top-rated team like Oregon."
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JAKE HORNIBROOK starts at right guard for Branson Bragg. Hornibrook started six games at the same position in 2019 and has played in every game over the past two seasons. David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, regards Hornibrook as a starter anyway, because he has been a regular part of the rotation.
For the second consecutive game, Nathaniel Peat is likely to be primary running back, though Austin Jones and Casey Filkins could be active. Peat had a career-high 13 carries against UCLA.
Shaw said he is hopeful that Bragg will return on Oct. 8 at Arizona State.
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TANNER McKEE and Mississippi's Matt Corral are the only Power Five quarterbacks with at least eight touchdown passes and no interceptions. McKee has eight TD throws and Corral nine. McKee is a sophomore and first-year starter.
"He's grown so much really since Week One," Shaw said. "Just staying in rhythm, seeing things clean, getting the ball out of your hands on time. He's got a very quick release. He's a quick decision-maker.
"Also, he needs to recognize that he cannot hold the ball back there. We don't want him to rush, we want him to stay in rhythm, but keep that time clock in his head. The idea is to go through your progressions, get the ball out of your hands, get the ball to a playmaker."
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John Winesberry, vs. Oregon, 1971.
STANFORD'S PAC-8 title teams of 1970 and 1971 will be honored Saturday. Stanford went on to beat an undefeated Big Ten opponent in the Rose Bowl each season, first Ohio State and then Michigan.
How did those Stanford teams fare against Oregon? Very well.
In 1970, Stanford opened conference play with a 33-10 victory in Eugene.
After Stanford went scoreless in the first half, Jim Plunkett steered Stanford to touchdowns on its first five possessions of the second half against an Oregon team with QB Dan Fouts, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, in his first start.
Plunkett was 9-for-25 for 81 yards in the first half and 9-for-13 for 169 in the second. Plunkett passed for three touchdowns – breaking the Pac-8 record for career touchdown passes -- and ran for another.
In 1971, Stanford again opened conference play against the Ducks, which featured Fouts and RB Bobby Moore (later Ahmad Rashad) and looked to be a Pac-8 contender. But new QB Don Bunce fired three TD passes during a 38-17 victory at Stanford Stadium.
Moore rushed for 150 yards on 29 carries and Fouts threw a touchdown pass that helped Oregon rally from a 17-0 deficit to 17-14. But Fouts suffered a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return.
Fifth-year senior Bunce passed his first big test. He hit Miles Moore for 78 and 41 yards and followed with a 36-yard pass that John Winesberry caught with his fingertips at the goal-line to complete the scoring.
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A YEAR AGO, Stanford opened its season at Oregon, a game especially memorable for inside linebacker Levani Damuni.
After a two-year mission to New Zealand and freshman year with limited action on special teams, Damuni entered the Oregon game early in the second quarter.
On his first defensive snap since he was a senior at Ridgeline High in Millville, Utah, in 2016, Damuni intercepted a pass by Tyler Shough. On Oregon's next series, Damuni recovered a fumble in the red zone and returned it 12 yards, keeping the score at 7-7 in a game the Ducks would win, 35-14.
"That game was huge for my confidence," said Damuni, now a junior starter. "It had been so long since I got some real defensive action. Going in there, making an impact right away, really boosted my confidence for that season and it's carried over to this season as well. It allowed myself to know that, I'm still here and I can still get the job done."
Levani Damuni celebrates his fumble recovery vs. Oregon, 2020. Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer/ISIphotos.com.
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THOUGH OREGON (4-0) is the last team in the Pac-12 to not throw an interception, the Ducks' strength is running the ball. Anthony Brown, in his second season in Eugene after transferring from Boston College, is dangerous passing and running.
In comparisons made by Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com, Brown is averaging 231.8 all-purpose yards per game, and 6.67 yards per play, similar to former Oregon quarterbacks Jeremiah Masoli in 2009 (234.6/6.61) and Justin Herbert in 2016 (233.0/6.70).
"They've got an athletic quarterback," Shaw said. "Sometimes we've done great against those, sometimes we haven't. That's another added factor for this week."
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OREGON DEFENSIVE END Kayvon Thibodeaux is set to return to full-time action after being injured in the opener. Thibodeaux was the Morris Trophy winner as the Pac-12's top lineman in 2020.
"It's pretty straightforward with Kayvon," Shaw said. "It's a combination of all the things you're looking for in a defensive player. He's got size. He's got length. He's got explosion.
"His get-off is very impressive. He can run around you, or he can go speed to power and walk you back to the quarterback. He could chase you down from the backside, and he's hard to reach on the frontside. It's why he's one of the best players in America. It'll take a big effort to handle a guy like that.
"But the challenge is to know that it's not just Kayvon, it's the rest of those guys. They're pretty good."
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DAMUNI COMES FROM a family of rugby fans, especially his father Waqa Damuni, who is an assistant athletics director for academic services at Utah State and of Fijian heritage. Fiji is a world power in rugby sevens.
Though he didn't play rugby growing up, Levani got into the sport while on his mission to New Zealand and played touch rugby every week. One thing he learned from the sport is the manner of tackling.
"The big thing in rugby is that they tackle really safe," Damuni said. "That's something that I've noticed and tried to incorporate into my game, not leading with your head. That's something I feel football should really be trying to incorporate more."
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FISK'S TRANSITION TO a two-way player this season was not surprising given his background. Fisk played on the defensive line at Davis (Calif.) High and his father, Jason, was a defensive lineman at Stanford and played 12 seasons in the NFL.
"It was kind of my idea, but I think they'd been thinking about it too," Fisk said. "When I first came to Stanford, there were rumors that people were thinking about moving me to D-line anyway. The thought wasn't a new idea.
"There obviously was a learning curve, but I've also played against D-linemen for four years now, and I'm familiar with how it goes."
Most of Fisk's practice time is with the defense because it's a newer position, though he does meet with tight ends coach Morgan Turner each day and his experience allows him to digest the offensive gameplan fairly easily each week.
"Difficult is maybe not a word I would use," Fisk said of playing both ways. "But, it's a lot, which is probably a better way to say it."
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Bryce Farrell. Photo by Erin Chang/ISIphotos.com.
PLAYING ON BOTH sides of the ball gives Fisk a unique perspective of his teammates.
On sophomore tight end Benjamin Yurosek, "Ben has a chance to be really good," Fisk said. "He's fast, he has good hands, he can block well. He's truly the full package in terms of tight end. I'm waiting for him to just explode in one of these games, where everyone can see how good he is and how good he can be."
On senior defensive end and captain Thomas Booker, Fisk said, "He's been a huge help for me on defense. He's really helped me learn the playbook. I bounce ideas off of him, and can ask questions. And, obviously, he's a beast out there. It's nice to have a guy like that in the room who you can watch and learn from."
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IN REFLECTING ON the UCLA game, Shaw said Stanford can't put itself into a hole as it did when it fell behind 14-0. Stanford evened the score briefly at 21-21 early in the fourth quarter, but was unable to hold the Bruins in check.
"It comes down to execution," Shaw said. "We can't have big lulls in our offense where we don't move the ball, where we make mistakes, and where we have penalties and give up field position. When we stay out of our own way and go and execute, we score 40 points plus. When we don't do that, then we don't.
"We showed resilience, we showed tremendous playmaking ability. We're getting toward that midseason point and starting to have a really good idea of what we do well and what we don't. Hopefully, we'll do more positive things the rest of the year."