In its highest-profile game of the season so far, Stanford’s football team fell flat on Saturday night at Oregon, losing 52-31.

The No. 9 Cardinal (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10) started the game well, building a 21-3 lead over the No. 4 Ducks (5-0, 2-0) early in the game. However, Oregon came back to pull within a touchdown at halftime, then roar past Stanford in the second half. The Card failed to score in the half while the Ducks ran roughshod over the Stanford defense.

The loss puts Oregon into the driver’s seat for the Pac-10 conference title, while the Cardinal’s hopes for its first Rose Bowl berth in over a decade have taken a serious hit.

Look for full coverage of Stanford’s game against Oregon in Monday’s issue of The Stanford Daily.

Correction: an earlier version of this post misstated the score.