Gaffney leads Stanford victory
Cardinal back runs for 3 scores at OSU
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Tyler Gaffney ran for three touchdowns and No. 8 Stanford held off Oregon State’s fourth-quarter comeback bid in a 20-12 win Saturday night.
Gaffney ran 22 times for 145 yards and scored on runs of 4, 9 and 32 yards to highlight a slow offensive night for Stanford (7-1, 5-1 Pac-12). The Cardinal totaled 276 yards on offense, as quarterback Kevin Hogan completed just 8 of 18 passes for 88 yards.
Stanford held Oregon State to 288 yards, well off the Beavers’ season average of 515 yards.
OSU quarterback Sean Mannion, the national leader in yards passing and touchdown passes, was 41 of 57 for 271 yards and one touchdown.
The Beavers (6-2, 4-1) trailed 20-9 with less than 4 minutes remaining and nearly forced overtime. Down by eight, Oregon State drove to the Stanford 7 with 30 seconds remaining, but four consecutive incompletions stopped the rally and ended the Beavers’ six-game winning streak.
The Cardinal win sets the stage for a showdown against No. 2 Oregon at home on Nov. 7. Last year, Stanford handed the Ducks their only loss of the season with a 17-13 win in Eugene.
Stanford’s defense came up big in key situations, as it turned back Oregon State on downs four times inside the Cardinal 35.
Stanford held Mannion to less than 350 yards passing for the first time this season, and sacked him eight times.
Stanford led 7-3 at halftime after a quick-striking drive, finished when Gaffney bulled into the end zone from 4 yards out 7 seconds before the break.