In recent years, Oregon and Stanford have sustained a brutal rivalry, both competing for the top spot in the Pac-12 North. In the past, their match-ups have determined which of them would represent the North in the Pac-12 Championship.

Yet, this year, their showdown won’t come with the same anticipation. Neither team has met pre-season expectations and won’t be playing in that championship game, Stanford dropping to third and Oregon to second to last in the Pac-12 North.

Despite snapping a five-game losing streak after defeating ASU the week prior, last week the Ducks suffered an embarrassing 45-20 loss to USC. Stanford, on the other hand, has won its last two games, though they were against Arizona and Oregon State.

Here’s how the teams stack-up:

Oregon offense vs. Stanford defense

Oregon has long been an offensive power, ranking first in total offense in the Pac-12 since 2010 when the conference was established. This year has been shaky as the Ducks are currently only ranked fourth. Some of that shakiness has been alleviated after the emergence of true freshman quarterback Justin Herbert. He started the last three games, and has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 926 yards, which ties the Oregon record for touchdown passes in a three-game stretch. His performance boosts the Duck’s passing game, which was previously lacking. In passing offense, Oregon is ranked 7th, compared to its No. 2 ranking in rushing offense, with a total of 2372 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Stanford, however, is solid at all aspects of their defensive game, ranking third in total defense, fourth in passing defense and fifth in rushing defense. The reason for this is that Stanford’s defense is much deeper than Oregon’s. Against Arizona, ten Cardinals had at least 3 tackles, and against OSU, 14 different players tallied two or more tackles.

If Oregon’s deep field of running backs, featuring Royce Freeman and Tony Brooks-James, is able to produce like they have been, then the Ducks should be able to exploit the weaker part of Stanford’s defense. However, in the loss against USC, neither Freeman or Brooks-James were very effective. Freeman had 8 carries for 38 yards and 2 catches for 9 yards, while Brooks-James had 8 carries for 25 yards and 4 catches for 26 yards.

Stanford offense vs. Oregon defense

Stanford’s offense this season is uncharacteristically weak. Its ranked last in the Pac-12 in total defense and passing offense. Even the Cardinal’s rushing game is isn’t up to par, which is surprising given Heisman candidate Christian McCaffery leads the team (and the Pac-12) with 980 yards.

Following an unproductive game against Colorado, which the Cardinals lost 10-5, Stanford Head Coach David Shaw elected to switch quarterbacks from senior Ryan Burns to junior Keller Chryst. Since then, Stanford has won the last two games, though the offense still hasn’t improved much. In the two games Chryst has played, he has thrown a total of 164 yards for two touchdowns. He has also thrown an interception and was sacked four times.

Oregon’s defense this season is unsurprisingly weak, as it has been for the past couple of years. While Oregon is ranked last in the Pac-12 in total defense, the Ducks are also ranked second to last in both passing defense and rushing defense. Troy Dye and Brenden Schooler have been Oregon’s best players. Dye leads the team in tackles with 67 tackles (38 of which were solo) and sacks with 3.5 for 23 yards for loss. Schooler leads the team in interceptions with four.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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