In what has become the “norm” for Oregon, there is yet another “game of the year” on tap for the Ducks. This week, that game is Stanford. The difference, though, is that this game was circled on fans and media’s calendar as the “game of the year” in the Pac-12 Conference ever since the schedule was announced. Stanford is coming off of another victory having taken care of the Beavers last week. Oregon, meanwhile, comes into this game on the heels of it’s best defensive effort of the season in a victory over Washington late Saturday night. The Ducks are now 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the Pac-12 Conference. Stanford carries a 9-0 overall and 7-0 record in the Pac-12.
In this continuing series from Duck Sports Authority we bring you the head-to-head match-ups of the Oregon Ducks and Stanford Cardinal. Today the focus is on offense.
QUARTERBACKS
Stanford: As many people may have heard, Stanford has a pretty good quarterback. Considered the consensus number one draft pick in the 2012 NFL draft (assuming he declares), junior Andrew Luck leads the Cardinal offense. The Ducks have faced quite a few very good quarterbacks this
season, but none compares to Andrew Luck. Luck is very athletic for his size and has pinpoint accuracy on most of his throws. This season, Luck has completed 194-272 passes (71.3% completion) for 2424 yards and 26 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. He has been sacked just 4 times this season and also has 25 carries for 147 yards as well as 1 reception for 13 yards. Luck’s backup, Brett Nottingham, has thrown just 8 passes this season.
Oregon: After being injured against Arizona State, Darron Thomas has worked his way back into his role as the leader of the offense. After playing for a half against Washington State in which there was an “injury slash performance” problem, Thomas found a little better groove …