STANFORD, Calif. — Toby Gerhart and Stanford did to the Oregon defense what the Ducks did a week ago to Southern California, opening up the Pac-10 race with a program-defining victory.

Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards and three scores, Andrew Luck threw for two touchdowns and Stanford held on to beat No. 7 Oregon, 51-42, yesterday to become bowl eligible for the first time in eight years.

"This was definitely my biggest win since I've been here at Stanford," Gerhart said, ranking it ahead of the victory over No. 2 USC two years ago.

"I think it's definitely bigger than the USC win because it gets us to that bowl game. All our seniors, the goal coming in was to be a bowl team. This was by far the biggest win. The students storming the field, that was an awesome feeling."

Stanford will play a postseason game for the first time since Tyrone Willingham's final year in 2001 after snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Ducks.

The loss by Oregon, just a week after gaining 613 yards in a 47-20 win over USC, cost the Ducks any shot at a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game and took away any margin for error if they want to win the conference outright.

Oregon (7-2, 5-1 Pac-10) rallied with two late touchdowns to cut a 20-point lead down to six, but Stanford (6-3, 5-2) recovered an onside kick with 2:38 to go and tacked on Nate Whitaker's third field goal with 11 seconds left to seal the win.

"We got beat by a better team," said Oregon coach Chip Kelly. "If you say we got caught looking behind or looking ahead, it takes away from Stanford. Stanford is a heck of a football team."

Luck finished 12 for 20 for 251 yards, throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jim Dray in the second quarter and a 31-yarder to Chris Owusu after Oregon cut the Cardinal lead to 10 points early in the third quarter.