Oregon certainly remembers last season's loss to Stanford, says it has to 'finish better'
Oregon gets a chance to exorcise some demons on Saturday against Stanford.
The Ducks were 4-0 and ranked third in the country when they lost to Stanford in overtime a season ago. Oregon rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter but mishaps in the final minutes led to a 31-24 loss.
“We’ve just got to learn how to finish better,” linebacker Jeffrey Bassa said this week. “It shouldn’t have even come down to that.”
Coach Dan Lanning said earlier this week his team is focused on playing their best football, but it’s only natural that a few of the team leaders who were part of last season’s loss feel a little something extra for the game.
“We have a lot of respect for this team,” said Lanning. “This team shortened our season last year. Some of the guys in our room, they still have a bad taste in their mouth from playing these guys before. That’s not far from their minds and playing to our best is, so that’s really what we focus on.”
Defensive back Steve Stephens IV said the Ducks are looking to play more disciplined ball against the Cardinal, but they try to keep a “no wasted pain” mentality on defense. The things that hurt them a year ago, they don’t want them to carry over.
Added defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus: “I just told the D-Line that last year these guys stung us in a way that was unacceptable.”
And after an emotional win over Washington State this past weekend, the Ducks aren’t looking to make the same mistakes again when Stanford comes to town (8 p.m. PT kick on FS1). But Lanning can find some comfort in the knowledge that this is a different Oregon team. Each week, we’ve seen the Ducks come out and show improvement in problem areas. They’re taking work from the practice field and translating it to the game.
“I think each game that we’ve walked away from, I feel like I’ve learned something unique in each one,” said Lanning. “That (Washington State) game to me was our DNA trait game. We had to go out there and play a team in a rough situation, where we had to really show some resiliency. There were moments of sacrifice and growth and toughness, and all those things really showed up, the things that we talk about, connection. All those things really showed up in that game for us. I think you saw it firsthand as it played out.
“I’m sure there were a lot of people that didn’t really believe there at the end of the game, but I don’t think there was ever an ounce of doubt on our sideline, which I certainly appreciated because we needed all hands on deck. We learned a lot from it. I think we’ve learned a lot from each game we’ve played in this year.”