Stanford Oregon

Stanford Oregon, Stanford squashed Oregon’s national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Florida State might want to send the Cardinal a thank you card.

Tyler Gaffney ran for 157 yards, and No. 5 Stanford hammered No. 3 Oregon for three quarters before holding off a furious rally by the fast-paced Ducks for a 26-20 victory Thursday night.

The Cardinal made it two in a row against the Ducks, who haven’t lost to any other team in the past two seasons.

“If you control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball, you can beat these guys,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “We’re a big, physical football team that plays well together.”

Kevin Hogan ran for a touchdown and played a mistake-free game at quarterback for Stanford (8-1, 6-1 Pac-12) as the Cardinal put on a clinic in how to play keep-away from a team that was averaging 55.6 points per game. Stanford ran 66 times for 274 yards — sometimes behind as many as nine offensive linemen — and held the ball for 42 1/2 minutes.

Heisman Trophy contender Marcus Mariota, who said he was playing on a left knee that was a “little banged up,” was inaccurate and under pressure much of the night. He finished 20-of-34 for 250 yards with a fumble but threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, sandwiched around a blocked field goal return for a score by Rodney Hardrick, to pull the Ducks (8-1, 5-1) to 26-20 with 2:12 left.

Oregon recovered one onside kick but couldn’t do it twice, and Stanford ran out the clock.

“We don’t hold the cards anymore,” first-year Ducks coach Mark Helfrich said.