The game last year was not necessarily a "shootout" as many experts in the media have termed it.
The Cardinal lined up, with six or seven men on the line, and really just ran over the Ducks. They pounded and pounded until the Ducks D gave in. And guess what? Eventually they did just that. Toby Gerhart amassed 223 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns. Stanford had the ball for 38 minutes as opposed to Oregon's 22 minutes. Andrew Luck completed 12 passes over the course of the game, two of which went for touchdowns.
I strongly believe this year's game will be very different. I say that because of Oregon's depth of talent on the defensive side of the ball. In my opinion, the Ducks have more second-string players that could very well start on other quality Pac-10 squads. This tells me a lot. I have always been a big believer in this "measurement" of a team's makeup. The Trojans dominated for nearly a decade because they had great players nearly three-deep at so many key positions. The Duck's D rotates seven or eight defensive linemen and six or seven linebackers. This accumulation of talent for Oregon is the direct result of a string of very strong classes packed with playmakers on D.
Last season, Oregon did not have this incredible depth of talent. And it showed.
This season will be different.
Ducks 42 The Cardinal 24
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