The Oregon Ducks play the Stanford Cardinal on Thursday in a PAC-12 showdown. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. ET. Listen to the live radio broadcast HERE or watch the live stream HERE.
No. 3 Oregon sits 8-0 behind the dynamic playmaking-ability of quarterback Marcus Mariota, who's making a strong case for the Heisman Trophy. Mariota has completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,281 yards, 20 touchdowns and no interceptions; he's also averaging 9.1 yards per carry for 511 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
"He's a great player. He's going to make some plays. But we can't just let him take the ball, read what we're doing," Stanford linebacker A.J. Tarpley said, via the Associated Press. "We want to try and mix it up a little bit, whether that's attacking him, try to show something that looks like something but it's actually something else. We'll mix it up. We don't want them to get in their rhythm. Because once they do that, you can't stop them."
Stanford coach David Shaw added: "I thought last year he was the best quarterback in the nation, and I feel the same way this year. I don't care about stats. Stats don't mean anything. You watch the film, you see a kid that makes every throw. Every throw is accurate. Twenty touchdowns and no interceptions? Every ball is perfect, every ball is in stride, every ball there's no wobble on it. Everything's pretty.
"As a former receiver, you always appreciate that, a guy that just throws a pretty ball. And then when nobody's open, he just takes off and outruns everybody. You're designing a quarterback, that's what you want."
No. 5 Stanford (7-1) beat Mariota last season, ending up the only team to have a win over the quarterback. The Cardinal is on a two game winning streak, and their defense has looked dominant when they stifled UCLA and Oregon State's quarterbacks.
Quarterback Kevin Hogan (61%, 1,493 YDS, 13 TD, 5 INT) is tasked with trying to keep up with Oregon's high-scoring offense.
