Stanford vs. Oregon St. Game Thread

Reser Stadium / ABC TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Fourth ranked Stanford (8-0, 6-0) visits Oregon St. (2-6, 2-3) for the Beavers' Homecoming.

The Cardinal forced a fumble on USC's possession in the third overtime in the LA Coliseum, preserving a 56-48 win that extended the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games. Andrew Luck bounced back from throwing a pick-6 with just over 3 minutes left to lead a 76 yard scoring drive to tie the game with 38 seconds left. Luck threw for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns by the time Stanford finally put the Trojans away.

Oregon St. became the first team to lose a conference game to one of the new members of the Pac-12 when a disastrous second quarter in which the Utes scored three touchdowns led to a 27-8 win. Sean Mannion threw for only 231 yards against Utah, and tossed 3 interceptions in the process. And the 6 sacks he suffered offset almost 2/3 of the rushing yards the Beavers managed.

James Rodgers, Marcus Wheaton, Jordan Bishop, and Brandin Cooks accounted for 23 of Oregon St.'s 27 catches in Salt Lake City, while TE Joe Halahuni only saw the ball once. Contrast that with Andrew Luck throwing multiple completions to 7 different receivers against USC. This despite losing TE Zach Ertz for probably the season on the opening kickoff.

Last year in Palo Alto, Stanford posted a 38-0 win over Oregon St. Today, the Cardinal are 21 point favorites to win again. And at #4, Stanford is ranked higher than they have been during the regular season at any point since 1970.

Another Oregon St. loss will guarantee the Beavers will have their worst season since 1997, head Coach Mike Riley's first year. It would also mean the Beavers would be assured of a losing season, and no bowl game, before the conclusion of the last regular-season game of the year since 1998, when they lost to UCLA in the next to last game of the season, before bouncing back to beat Oregon in three overtimes, on Ken Simonton's game winning touchdown.

Today's game is the 158th. straight for the Beavers where they weren't "playing out the string", with no chance of qualifying for a bowl, or avoiding a losing season. Of the teams in the Pac-12, only Oregon has a longer such streak. Will the longest such string in the history of the program end here, or will Oregon St. pull off yet another late season upset?

Luck has only lost 5 games as a starting quarterback, but one of those was 2 years ago right here in Reser. And he's never won in the state of Oregon. Will he overcome the "curse of the valley"?

Here's the place to chat about the game, the way the season has unraveled, and Stanford's prospects of reaching a BCS bowl for the second year in a row.

Buildingthedam.com will be at the game, and be back after wards, with complete coverage and analysis.

Go Beavs!