Ducks’ Run to No. 1 Blocked by Cardinal

EUGENE, Ore. — Through six games and three quarters, Oregon looked like a very real threat to make good on its goal of playing for the national championship.

In the final quarter, though, the Ducks came back to earth with a spectacular thud Saturday.

Kerry Carter bulled his way into the end zone from the three-yard line with 1:10 left as the Cardinal beat fifth-ranked Oregon, 49-42, at Autzen Stadium.

“It was all about heart, you know?” said Stanford backup quarterback Chris Lewis, who replaced injured Randy Fasani and guided the Cardinal back from a 42-28 fourth-quarter deficit. “It’s such an honor to come into this stadium and beat a phenomenal team.”

Stanford (4-1, 3-1 Pacific 10) outscored Oregon, 21-0, in the quarter by turning one of two blocked punts and an interception by Joey Harrington into touchdowns. But after Carter scored from one yard with 5:32 to go, the Ducks’ Seth McEwen deflected Mike Biselli’s extra 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-one from his 30, Harrington was hit by safety Tank Williams and the ball floated into the hands of diving defensive end Marcus Hoover at the 33.

“Not my call,” Harrington said of the play. “Second-guess all you want....We tried.”

On third-and-goal, Carter was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but got a push from his line to get into the end zone for his fourth score.

Lewis, who came off the bench last season to help Stanford beat No. 5 Texas, 27-24, started slowly but completed 12 of 26 passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Basically, all I did was get the ball in the hands of my money-makers,” Lewis said. “It took me the whole game to get my rhythm. The first few series, I felt like a junior high school quarterback.”

Harrington has directed nine fourth-quarter comebacks, but the farthest he could guide the Ducks in the final seconds was the Stanford 37. He threw four incompletions, with the final pass sailing out of the end zone as time expired.

“I know, ‘Captain Comeback,”’ Williams said of Harrington’s moniker. “We had to go out and play our best defense.”

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. The Cardinal kept the Ducks from getting to the Rose Bowl with a 1995 win, but this one dashed Oregon’s dreams of a national title.

“This puts a damper on everything,” said Keenan Howry, who had nine catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns and also returned a punt 69 yards for a score.

A sensational duel between Harrington and Fasani ended when Fasani sprained his right knee in the second quarter.

Oregon went ahead, 35-21, on Howry’s punt return with 7:37 left in the third quarter.

After Stanford came back with a 28-yard scoring pass from 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.

The first one, by Alex Smith, produced nothing, but Stanford converted Amon Gordon’s block into a touchdown when Lewis hit an open Luke Powell for 24 yards to pull the Cardinal to 42-35 with 9:09 to play.

Stanford surprised the Ducks with an on-side kick, recovering the ball at Oregon’s 40.

Eight plays later, Carter scored from one yard to get within a point.

After the earlier extra point was blocked, Stanford didn’t mess around with another kick on the go-ahead score.

Johnson leaped to grab a two-point conversion pass for a 49-42 lead.

Harrington was 22 of 41 for 270 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. But he was only 13 of 30 after the first quarter.

“We lost,” he said. “Doesn’t matter how or why, we lost.”