No. 3 Oregon loses in OT, and that may end Pac-12’s CFP hopes

No. 3 Oregon’s hopes for a College Football Playoff berth may have ended Saturday against a foe that has hurt a highly ranked Ducks team before.

Host Stanford beat the Ducks 31-24 in overtime. The Cardinal now has beaten a ranked Oregon team five times since 2009. This was the third time that Oregon (4-1, 1-1 in the Pac-12) was ranked in the top three.

Oregon zoomed up the polls by winning at Ohio State in Week 2. The Ducks beat Stony Brook and woebegone Arizona in their next two games, but fell behind 17-7 at halftime Saturday and never seemed comfortable.

The Ducks were the final remaining unbeaten team in the Pac-12 and looked to be the only league team to have a legit shot at a CFP berth. There obviously has been a lot of chaos this season, but it’s hard to imagine a Pac-12 team getting enough traction in the eventual CFP rankings by beating only other league teams.

Oregon was without offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who missed the game because of a non-COVID related illness. Running backs coach Jim Mastro served as the play-caller in Moorhead’s absence. The offense was especially stagnant in the first half.

The Ducks lost star edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux with 1:33 left in regulation and Stanford on its final drive. He was ejected for targeting on Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee, who left the game briefly but returned. That was one of two personal foul penalties on Oregon on the drive.

The Cardinal (3-2, 2-1) sent the game into overtime by scoring on an untimed down with no time on the clock. Oregon was called for pass interference on fourth-and-goal on the final play of regulation, and Tanner McKee made the Ducks pay with a TD pass to Elijah Higgins.

In overtime, McKee connected with John Humphreys for the score, and the Cardinal defense kept the Ducks out of the end zone to finish the upset.