5 Things We Learned About Andrew Luck and Stanford After 53-30 Loss to Oregon

Pfffffttttt.

That's the sound of the air whooshing out of Stanford's national title and Pac-12 balloons after its aesthetically unpleasing 53-30 loss to Oregon on Saturday night in Palo Alto. Bid farewell to the NCG and Pac-12 titles, and to the Cardinal's 17-game win streak.

Here are five things we learned about Stanford and quarterback Andrew Luck. No slides necessary. Just the cold hard facts.

1. Andrew Luck is Mortal After All

In leading Stanford to a 9-0 start, Andrew Luck looked other-worldly, with stats befitting of Aaron Rodgers and coolness under pressure that upended USC in triple overtime.

Luck was knocked off his game by an active Oregon pass-rush that sacked him three times and forced him to fumble deep in Stanford territory. He also threw two interceptions, one that led to a Ducks touchdown and the other a pick-six that sealed the game in the fourth quarter.

While Luck did amass 271 passing yards with a pair of TDs to his roommate Griff Whalen (who has gone from walk-on to Wes Welker clone), Luck's YPA was an uncharacteristically low 6.6.

He also sailed some passes high and was plagued by drops by his normally sure-handed TEs and by frosh WR Ty Montgomery, subbing for the injured Chris Owusu.

Credit the Oregon defense for never allowing Luck to find his Heisman quality rhythm. Look for Luck to rebound next week in the 114th Big Game vs. Cal.

2. Speed Kills

Other than for that wild three-overtime thriller at USC last month, Stanford's defense held up nicely despite the loss of star LB Shayne Skov to a season-ending September knee injury and sure-tackling DB Delano Howell to a hand injury.

Howell returned against Oregon, but left in the first half, and the Stanford defense thereafter had no answer for the afterburners of LaMichael James, D'Anthony Thomas and Josh Huff. Oregon scored three of its TDs from over 40 yards.

And, only one of the Ducks' six touchdown drives consumed over two minutes of game clock. The Stanford defense, which had shown some cracks against USC, was further exposed by Oregon.

3. 4th Down Matters

The Cardinal held Oregon to just 1-of-9 on third-down conversions. Ordinarily, that could be a meaningful statistic.

Except that the Ducks scored two backbreaking touchdowns on fourth-down plays. Late in the first half, QB Darron Thomas tossed a short swing pass to De'Anthony Thomas on 4th-and-7. De'Anthony did the rest with a dazzling sprint down the sideline for a 22-9 Oregon lead.

In the third quarter, the Ducks opened up a 36-16 lead on 4th-and-2 from the Stanford 4. Deciding against an easy FG, Coach Chip Kelly called LaMichael's number and he all but jogged through a large hole for the TD.

4. Turnovers are Trouble

Stanford had committed just seven turnovers in its first nine games. Against Oregon, the Cardinal lost three fumbles and Andrew Luck had two INTs. Two of the fumbles were late in the game, but the other TOs were costly.

Stanford had lived a clean turnover life all season. That ended on Saturday.

5. No Sleeping On Chip Kelly

Coach Chip Kelly again showed no fear and displayed his gunslinger mentality despite the hostile environment of a sold-out and high-decibel Stanford Stadium.

After Oregon's opening TD, Kelly appeared to surprise Stanford by going for the 2-point conversion, right into the south end zone, home of the rowdy Stanford student section. Just like that, it was 8-0 Oregon, and Kelly and the Ducks had made a statement to Stanford and its home crowd.

Later, Kelly made the above-mentioned fourth-down calls that both resulted in touchdowns. Jim Harbaugh didn't have the answers to Kelly in 2010, and Coach David Shaw didn't have the answers on Saturday night.

Coach Shaw now has this week to recalibrate the Cardinal for the Big Game against the resurgent Cal Bears. A victory over Cal will keep Stanford's BCS hopes alive.