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The cardiac kids can't pull out another miracle EUGENE - And somewhere birds are singing. And somewhere children shout. But there is no joy in Duckville, for mighty Oregon has struck out. After waiting 105 years to claim the nation's longest active home-field winning streak, the slate was wiped clean inside seven days Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium. And like a crowd waiting for an encore - only to find the house lights come up on them - the 46,021 on hand were left wandering the stadium in disbelief. Yellow pom pons in hand. Fully decked out in Duck attire. Featuring more puzzled looks than if the Jerry Springer crowd accidently got transplanted to the set of Jeopardy!. For the record, it was Oct. 11, 1997 when Oregon fans mumbled similar woes upon exiting Autzen. On that day, UCLA outlasted the Ducks, 39-31. Few leaving the stadium that day would have predicted a ride such as Oregon has enjoyed since then. Few leaving Saturday were willing to count out the possibility that the ol' car may be good for another drive around the block or two. "It's very difficult to lose in that manner and to lose at home," said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, "but the most important thing is not what happened today in getting knocked down, it's whether or not we get up." That question won't be completely answered until next Saturday when the Ducks take on 19th-ranked Washington State in Pullman, Wash. "The biggest thing is we can't let Stanford beat us twice," said Bellotti. "We've got to come back from this and realize we lost, partly due to our mistakes and partly because Stanford's a very good football team. We did some very good things but we failed to make plays when it mattered and that cost us." And that's probably the biggest surprise of all for those in attendance at Autzen. Joey Harrington is Captain Comeback, right? No one can possibly deny the outside threats of Keenan Howry, Justin Peelle, Jason Willis and Samie Parker, can they? At least on Saturday, all those answers were provided by an opportunistic Cardinal team that dominated action in the fourth quarter. In that fateful stanza, Stanford blocked two straight Oregon punts, converted an onside kick and then intercepted Harrington in a pivotal 10-minute span that led to 21 unanswered points. "You can bend and bend and finally some things break. Unfortunately it broke today," Howry said of Oregon's fourth-quarter slump. "We gave it our all out there and were doing a lot of good things. It just didn't work out in the end." Even with momentum clearly on Stanford's side, there was a certain buzz around the stadium as Oregon's offense prepared to take the field down 49-42 with 1:10 to play. After Onterrio Smith provided a good kickoff return, Harrington completed a 22-yard pass to Parker that put the Ducks at midfield. Two plays later, Harrington threw back-to-back strikes to Howry and Peelle to put the ball at Stanford's 37 with :14 seconds to play. What would normally be considered outrageous for Oregon to score was in some way silently turned into the expected among more than just the fans in the stands. "Everybody expects us to do a lot of things and come back and win these games, but we expect that too," admitted Howry. "We really thought we could come out and tie the game up. Unfortunately it didn't happen. You can't live on the edge as many times as we have. Sometimes you get burned by that." Harrington's first strike toward Willis on the final series went too far. His second strike found the turf. His third strike went out of play. Although down, Harrington would later say his team is not out. "We made mistakes. That's all," said the senior, who entered the game 9-1 in contests decided in the last 15 minutes. "It's correctable. "I'd like to think we can bounce back from this. It's another opportunity." But nothing like the opportunity lost. "Our whole team goal was to go undefeated and win the national championship," said Howry. "We didn't want a conference championship, we wanted a national championship. That's something you don't come across every year." Or in Oregon's case 105 years ... and counting. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.