Oregon’s 38-36 win over Stanford probably should’ve been a 38-30 victory. Stanford got a gift on an inexplicable pass interference flag, helping to keep a final drive alive before falling short on a potential game-tying two-point conversion.
Oregon upset Stanford despite a terrible pass interference call
It should’ve been slightly easier for the Ducks.
The only penalty that would've made total sense on this fantastic out-of-bounds catch by Stanford tight end Devon Cajuste is offensive pass interference, for the push-off of Ugo Amadi's facemask to get free. Instead, Amadi was flagged, giving Stanford first-and-goal instead of fourth-and-10 from Oregon's 24-yard line.
For some perspective on how dumb that flag was, one only needs to look at the next play (after a substitution infraction), on which Kevin Hogan found Greg Taboada for a touchdown.
There’s more contact (from both sides!) on that play than there was on the one before, yet no flags flew. And it just doesn’t make sense to throw a phantom flag on one play and nothing for clear contact on the next; if refs are going to be bad, consistent badness would at least redeem some of it.
But when the Ducks most needed a stop, Joe Walker broke up Hogan's pass to the end zone on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt, securing their first win at Stanford since 2011, and surely dashing the Cardinal's College Football Playoff hopes.
That ending, not one in which Stanford stitched together a miracle game-tying touchdown drive after surviving two fumbled snaps by Hogan in the fourth quarter, feels a bit more fitting for this game -- especially because this series has been all about underdogs spoiling national championship campaigns in recent years.
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