EUGENE, Ore. — Jordan Williamson hit a 37-yard field goal in overtime and No. 14 Stanford upset No. 1 Oregon 17-14, denying the Ducks a chance to clinch the Pac-12 North and derailing their straight shot at the BCS championship game.
If both Stanford and Oregon finish with wins in their final games next weekend, both will finish with one conference loss, which means Stanford will win the head-to-head matchup and go to the Pac-12 championship game for a chance to play in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford (9-2, 7-1) will visit No. 17 UCLA, which defeated No. 21 USC 38-28 earlier in the day to claim the Pac-12 South. Oregon (10-1, 7-1) will play rival Oregon State in the annual Civil War rivalry game in Corvallis.
The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Ducks, which was longest current streak in the nation. It was Stanford's fifth straight win.
Oregon's loss, coupled with Kansas State's — they were also the top two teams in the BCS standings — means Notre Dame is now the lone unbeaten team in the race for the BCS title game.
The Fighting Irish now control their national championship race and Alabama and a couple of other Southeastern Conference teams are also in the thick of it.
Oregon was the only Pac-12 team that Stanford hadn't defeated over the past two seasons. But Cardinal's tough defense smothered the highest scoring team in the nation.
Alejandro Maldanado missed a 41-yard field goal for the Ducks to open overtime.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Hogan threw for 211 yards and a game-tying fourth-quarter touchdown for Stanford, while Stepfan Taylor rushed for 161 yards on 33 carries.
Down 14-7, Stanford went for it on fourth-and-1 on the Oregon 12 with 2:17 left in regulation and Ryan Hewitt ran for the first down, Hogan hit Zach Ertz with a 10-yard scoring pass to tie it at 14 with 1:35 to go. Ertz fought to gain control of the ball with a defender as he fell to the turf on top of a Ducks player. The play was initially ruled incomplete, but a video review overturned it for the game-tying touchdown.
Despite a pass interference call gave them a crucial first down, the Ducks were forced to punt on the ensuing series and Stanford took over with 36 seconds to go and the game went to overtime.