Oregon vs. Stanford carries West Coast bragging rights, and more

STANFORD, Calif. – The matchup between Oregon and Stanford the past three seasons has been billed as the biggest game of the year on the West Coast, a de facto Pac-12 title game and national semifinal.

What it also has been is a spoiler.

In each of the past three years, the loser was handed its only regular-season defeat and would've surely played in the BCS Championship Game otherwise. The winner went on to claim the Pac-12 title.

The stakes are just as high this season. The stage is even bigger. When No. 2 Oregon (8-0, 5-0) visits sixth-ranked Stanford (7-1, 5-1) in prime time Thursday night, one team will announce itself as the best in the West and the other will watch its championship dreams wither away again.

Even the so-called smart kids are rearranging their schedules for this one.

"The people that I've seen around campus, they've all said, 'I'm not going to class on Thursday at all. I'm getting ready for this tailgate,' " Stanford safety Ed Reynolds said. "The campus is excited. They realize what this game means to this campus and this school, and I'm expecting a nice little rowdy crowd."

The showdown at sold-out Stanford Stadium sets up similarly to the one in Eugene a year ago.

That remains Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Marcus Mariota's only loss in 21 starts. He has not thrown an interception since that game, keeping the Quack Attack moving at a breakneck pace under first-year coach Mark Helfrich.

The Ducks are averaging 632.1 yards and 55.6 points per game. Both rank second in the nation behind Baylor.

"When you experience [a loss], it helps you not fear it," Mariota said. "There's a lot of times when you go out there and you fear failure and that's not how you should play football."

Mariota's magic: Stanford coach David Shaw called Mariota the best quarterback in the nation this week — a claim he also made last year — and even compared him to 49ers star Colin Kaepernick. Mariota has passed for 2,281 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 587 yards and nine TDs this season. "You're designing a quarterback," Shaw said, "that's what you want."

Damaged D-line: If Stanford wants to duplicate its performance from a year ago, it will have to do it with a reshuffled defensive line. Senior defensive end and co-captain Ben Gardner had season-ending chest surgery last week. The other starting defensive end, Henry Anderson, will return after missing the past six games because of a knee injury.