No. 7 Stanford rallies for 38-31 OT win over No. 20 Oregon
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – K.J. Costello threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 23-yarder to Colby Parkinson in overtime, and No. 7 Stanford rallied for a 38-31 victory over No. 20 Oregon on Saturday night.
After Costello’s TD pass to Parkinson, Stanford’s Lameen Murphy intercepted Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert’s pass in the end zone for the victory.
Bryce Love returned after sitting out last week against UC Davis to rest minor injuries. He ran for 89 yards and a touchdown as Stanford remained undefeated with another tough test against No. 8 Notre Dame looming next week.
Love’s 22-yard scoring run late in the third quarter cut Oregon’s lead to 24-21, but Cyrus Habibi-Likio scored on a 1-yard run for the Ducks with 4:39 left.
In the frenzied final minutes of regulation, Stanford answered with Costello’s 15-yard TD pass to JJ Arcega-Whiteside to narrow it again before Sean Barton recovered CJ Verdell’s fumble on the Stanford 40 with 51 seconds left.
Costello passed for a pair of first downs on the ensuing drive and Jet Toner hit a 32-yard field to tie it and send the game into overtime.
Herbert threw for 346 yards and a touchdown while receiver Dillon Mitchell caught 14 passes for 239 yards in Oregon’s first real challenge of the season after nonconference wins over Bowling Green, Portland State and San Jose State.
Oregon came out with a collective tenacity that it hadn’t really shown this season. The Ducks’ first series was capped by Tony Brooks-James’ 7-yard touchdown run. Herbert got Oregon downfield with a 53-yard pass to Mitchell.
The Ducks went up 14-0 on Herbert’s 7-yard pass to Jacob Breeland to open the second quarter.
Arcega-Whiteside scored on a 13-yard pass from Costello for his sixth TD reception of the season. He was tied at third nationally for touchdown catches going into the game.
Oregon answered on the next drive with Verdell’s 48-yard scoring run to go up 21-7. The Ducks added a 38-yard field goal from Adam Stack and ran off the field for halftime celebrating the dominant performance by dancing and waving towels.
The momentum shifted late in the third quarter when Stanford’s Joey Alfieri scooped up a fumble and ran 80 yards for the touchdown to narrow the gap to 24-14.
The Cardinal TD came just after Oregon had a touchdown overturned. However, replays appeared to show that Jaylon Redd remained inbounds on a 16-yard run.
Love’s touchdown closed the quarter before the frenetic final five minutes.
The Pac-12 North is crowded right now with three ranked teams. Joining Stanford and Oregon is No. 10 Washington. The Huskies at 2-1 with a season-opening loss at Auburn. Looking ahead, Oregon has Washington at Autzen on Oct. 13, while the Huskies host the Cardinal on Nov. 3.
Stanford had won the last two meetings, including last year’s 49-7 victory in Palo Alto. Love, who was a Heisman finalist, ran for a pair of touchdowns within the first five minutes of the last meeting and finished with 147 yards. But Oregon was missing Herbert, who had a broken collarbone.
THE TAKEAWAY
Stanford: Arcega-Whiteside became the fifth Stanford player with 20 career touchdown catches. He’s tied for fourth on Stanford’s career list. … Stanford’s defense went into the game allowing an average of just 7.7 points a game, tops in the nation.
Oregon: It was Dillon Mitchell’s third career game with more than 100 receiving yards. … Former Ducks LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner were among the former players at the game. Former basketball players Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell were also in the crowd, with current Oeregon coach Dana Altman.
UP NEXT
It doesn’t get any easier for Stanford, which visits No, 8 Notre Dame next weekend. The Fighting Irish defeated Wake Forest 56-27 on Saturday
The Ducks play at California next weekend, their first road trip of the season after opening with four straight games at Autzen.
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