NCAA Football stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. -- What a difference a week makes for Oregon.

The Ducks looked invincible and unbeatable a week ago, taking apart USC like they were ... Stanford?

They spent the week answering questions about letdowns and hangovers. No way. Not going to happen. Not us.

But by sunset at Stanford Stadium, the No. 7-ranked Ducks were walking off the field after a 51-42 defeat and there was no doubt they felt the letdown.

"We didn't focus on the past, didn't look to the future. We got beat by a better team," said Oregon coach Chip Kelly. "If you say that we got caught looking behind or ahead, it takes away from Stanford. Stanford is a heck of a football team."

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STANFORD, Calif.(AP) -- Toby Gerhart bowled over the Oregon defense to make the Cardinal bowl eligible for the first time in eight years.

Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards and three scores, Andrew Luck threw for two touchdowns and Stanford held on to beat No. 7 Oregon 51-42 Saturday for its all-important sixth win of the season.

The loss by Oregon (7-2, 5-1 Pac-10) just a week after beating Southern California 47-20 opened up the conference race and cost the Ducks any shot at a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Oregon rallied with two late touchdowns to cut a 20-point lead down to six, but Stanford (6-3, 5-2) recovered an onside kick with 2:38 to go and tacked on Nate Whitaker's third field goal with 11 seconds left. The students rushed the field as the game ended.

Blanket Coverage is a weekly rewind of all the action of Week 6, from the big opinions, to the small news, and, of course, coverage of all players named Ju-Ju.

In the second half of Florida's 13-3 win at LSU Saturday night, CBS color analyst Gary Danielson opined that a one-loss SEC team would play in the BCS Championship Game. Danielson's forecast seems fair enough, particularly considering the teams playing in front of him in Death Valley.

The Gators lost one game in both 2006 and 2008 and won the national championship. The Tigers lost two games in 2007 and beat Ohio State in the BCS title game. What Danielson failed to consider, though, was whether a one-loss SEC team with the second-best record in the conference might advance to Pasadena come January.

To poop in private or not to poop in private, that is is the question. Whether tis nobler for Stanford's Jim Harbaugh to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous public urination or oppose them. Such is the ruminative monologue racing through the minds of Stanford supporters in the wake of this announcement: a Stanford booster built a $50,000 to $70,000 private bathroom for coach Jim Harbaugh. Why was this private bathroom necessary? According to Harbaugh, "It cuts down on drag."

LOS ANGELES -- The same guy who led Michigan to the No. 2 ranking in 1985 as a quarterback and nearly brought the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl a decade later has that same fervor in rebuilding the Stanford football program.

So is this the year someone besides USC wins the Pac-10 title and gains the automatic BCS bowl berth?

If there is ever a year for USC to get chased from behind and caught, this is this year. The Trojans are breaking in a new quarterback in Aaron Corp and replacing several departed starters to the NFL draft.

So who's it going to be? Cal? Can the Golden Bears overcome early-season trap games and win the games they are supposed to and make it interesting? Can Oregon beat USC at home and win difficult road games and take the title? And how about Oregon State? Do Mike Riley teams always have to start 1-3 before getting into high gear?

And what about the rest of the field? Is this Stanford's breakout year? Is UCLA ready to become a Pac-10 factor again? And is Arizona really the third worst team in the conference as it was picked by the media? These are all intriguing questions that will be worked out in the coming weeks.

Our standings preview and records predictions are after the jump.

LOS ANGELES -- USC was picked to win the Pac-10 football title for the seventh consecutive year by the media, and yet the coaches from all nine competitors -- including Arizona's Mike Stoops (right) and even USC coach Pete Carroll -- touched on the uncertainty of the Trojans this season.

USC received 28 of the 32 votes with California receiving three while third-place Oregon collected one vote. The Trojans will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new defenders since 11 players were taken in the NFL Draft. Perhaps this is the year another school emerges and takes the crown out of Los Angeles, but they approached Thursday precariously and with respect. There were no declarations that USC is going down or the reign is over -- not even from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.

LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps there was a reason Pete Carroll pleaded with Mark Sanchez to return to USC for his senior season. He knew his Trojans would lose their gorilla grip on the Pac-10, and that is the enduring theme entering the conference's media day Thursday at the LAX Sheraton Hotel.

The Trojans are not the prohibitive favorites, but the precarious favorites with a slew of teams chasing them. But there's one major catch in their pursuit, most of the conference teams -- outside Washington -- are breaking in a new or less experienced quarterback. USC should be voted the favorites Thursday, but who is second?

Many believe Stanford is primed for its first bowl game since 2001. The Cardinal features a veteran team and a manageable schedule of seven home games. And, better yet, Luck just might be on Stanford's side in the Pac-10 this season.

The key to any projected success for the Cardinal is at quarterback, where all eyes will be on redshirt freshman Andrew Luck.

Luck, the son of former Houston Oiler and West Virginia quarterback Oliver Luck, demonstrated enough potential last year that many believed he should have been given an opportunity to compete for the starter's role. Luck, however, made the most of his sideline time and emerged as the team's frontrunner during spring drills, chucking five touchdown passes in the spring game.

Recently, Stanford University unveiled its imaginative new slogan for the upcoming football season. Are you ready? Hold your breath. It's astounding, it's going to rock your world. "We work."

That's it.

The sum total of Stanford's distilled brilliance, the essence of sports. Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit," so somewhere he's laughing. Everyone else? They want the athletic department to get a refund check.