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The Beavers also frustrated the offense, which relies on a steady diet of Gerhart's running. By disrupting quarterback Andrew Luck early, Stanford fell out of its natural bullish rhythm. Gerhart, who came in leading the Pac-10 with 130.0 yards a game, had 96 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
"We had a horribly slow start," said Luck, who was 12-of-30 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. "They made us pay for that start."
The first play from scrimmage offered a glimpse at what was to come. Luck found Owusu in front of a Beavers defender for what looked like a sure touchdown. But Owusu dropped the ball. Luck told his receiver, "All right, let's come back on them and do it."
But then Luck, a redshirt freshman, overthrew open receivers time and again, missing on his first six passes.
"I wasn't calming down," he said.
Oregon State's defense can take a bow for rattling Luck. The Beavers pressured the Cardinal receivers and contained Gerhart and the ground game, forcing the redshirt freshman into uncomfortable passing situations.
But more than anything, Stanford just couldn't recover from a devastating 21-0 deficit by the second quarter. Jacquizz Rodgers, who had been held to fewer than 100 yards rushing in the three previous outings, slipped underneath defenders in the middle, or wiggled out of the grasp of tacklers in the open field. He looked capable of breaking a big gain almost every time he touched the ball.
"We weren't making tackles," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said ....
