Stanford hopes to stay in bowl contention

PALO ALTO, CA (KGO) -- The road to the Rose Bowl now goes through Oregon. For Stanford a win over the Ducks puts them on the road to a bowl game. The remaining schedule for the Cardinals is not kind: Oregon, USC, Cal and Notre Dame.

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After losing their season opener to Boise State, Oregon has reeled off seven straight victories including last week's 27 point win over USC. The Ducks are lead by former San Mateo Serra High quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who is the total package.

"He's the best dual threat quarterback in the country. He can hurt you throwing the ball, runs like a running back, makes great decisions with the football, but hopefully we can slow him down," says Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Masoli threw for 222 yards against the Trojans and ran for 164.

"He can hurt you both ways and whenever you have someone like that, that works so well in the spread offense -- like Oregon has -- it's really dangerous," says Stanford linebacker Clinton Snyder.

The best defense against a player like Masoli, is a good offense.

"We definitely believe we can run the ball. We're definitely going to pound it and keep their offense off the field," says Stanford running back Toby Gerhart.

The Ducks defense is no slouch; they're ranked in the top 20 in the country.

"It's a big challenge, I'm looking forward to it. They have a great secondary, great linebackers and put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, so going to be a lot of fun," says Stanford quarterback Andre Luck.

Stanford has three of their last four games at home and needs one victory to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2001.

"We get to play the upper tier of the Pac 10 and that's where we want to be. You got to play the best to be the best," says Gerhart.

"We're in a playoff mode. It's kind of like the NFL playoff for us, staying in the Rose Bowl hunt," says Harbaugh.

That hunt begins Saturday against 8th ranked Oregon.

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