STANFORD, Calif. -- A lot of things changed when Oregon linebacker Joe Walker helped thwart Stanford's two-point conversion try with 10 seconds left.

First and foremost, it preserved the Ducks' 38-36 victory over No. 7 Stanford on Saturday night after the Cardinal seemed on the verge of an impressive fourth-quarter comeback.

The result also prevented Stanford (8-2, 7-1 Pac-12) from clinching the Pac-12 North title, and it probably crossed the Cardinal's name off the list of College Football Playoff contenders.

Stanford coach David Shaw was not concerned about the national playoff, however.

"It was never in our heads," he said.

Meanwhile, there was talk in the other dressing room was about whether Oregon (7-3, 5-2) is the best team in the conference again. The Ducks have won four in a row and have played well since quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. returned from a broken finger.

"We have a different identity now from earlier," Adams said. "I'm a lot more comfortable in the offense, so we can play a lot faster."

Ducks coach Mark Helfrich was not about to be talked into the what-if discussion.

He rolled his eyes and said, "If I were George Clooney, my wife would be a lot happier."

The Cardinal, who trailed by 12 entering the fourth quarter, were behind by eight when they got the ball back at the Oregon 49 with 1:09 remaining and no timeouts. Stanford was aided by a pass interference call on Oregon defensive back Ugo Amadi that placed the ball at the Oregon 9-yard line with 14 seconds left, and that was followed by an illegal substitution penalty that moved the ball to the 4 with no time elapsing. Quarterback Kevin Hogan then threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Tabado to make it 38-36 with 10 seconds remaining.

But Hogan's pass over the middle intended for tight end Austin Hooper was a little low, and Walker got a hand in to disrupt things.

"I might have touched it a little bit," Walker said.

"They blitzed us," Shaw said of the conversion play. "The ball was a little bit low. Hooper had a chance maybe to get it. The ball might have got pulled out, a good play on the defensive side."

"When the ball's in Hogan's hands, normally good things happen for them," Helfrich said. "This time they didn't."

Adams Jr. finished 10 of 12 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Ducks running back Royce Freeman, the Pac-12 rushing leader heading into the weekend, ran for 105 yards and had two big plays -- a 49-yard run that led to Oregon's first touchdown and 19-yard scoring run early in the third quarter that put the Ducks ahead to stay 28-23.

Hogan was 28 of 37 for 304 yards, two scores and one interception. But his two fumbled snaps recovered by Oregon on consecutive Cardinal possessions in the fourth quarter may have doomed Stanford's chances.

Running back Christian McCaffrey rushed for 147 yards for the Cardinal.

Stanford, which leads the nation in time of possession, had the ball most of the game. Its offense ran 86 plays for 506 yards and had the ball for 42:06, and Oregon had just 48 offensive plays for 436 yards with 17:54 in time of possession.

But the Ducks, who scored touchdowns while the Cardinal too often settled for field goals, had three touchdown plays of more than 45 yards -- a 75-yard run by wide receiver Charles Nelson in the first quarter, a 47-yard touchdown catch by Darren Carrington in the second quarter and a 49-yard scoring reception by Taj Griffin late in the third quarter that gave Oregon a 35-23 lead.

"It's what they live on," Shaw said.

And being behind by two scores heading into the fourth quarter is not where a grind-it-out team like Stanford wants to be.

"It was huge," Adams said of the two-score advantage, "because now they're in a game they don't want to play."

Stanford reduced its deficit to 35-30 on Hogan's 3-yard touchdown pass to Taboada early in the fourth quarter.

Stanford got the ball back, but a fumbled snap recovered by Oregon linebacker Tyson Coleman at the Stanford 47 ruined that Cardinal possession and led to Aidan Schneider's 31-yard field goal that gave the Ducks a 38-30 lead with 5:12 left.

The Cardinal moved to the Oregon 15 before Hogan fumbled another snap recovered by the Ducks with 2:06 left.

"Hard to say, hard to say," Shaw said regarding a reason for the fumbled snaps. "We played two centers during the course of the game, but it has not been a problem."

The Cardinal stopped Oregon one more time to give Stanford a chance, but it failed to get the two points needed to send the game into overtime.

NOTES: Oregon CB Tyree Robinson had to be carried off the field with an apparent leg injury suffered in the fourth quarter. ... Stanford has two regular-season games remaining, both at home: next Saturday against Cal and Nov. 28 against Notre Dame. Oregon also has two home games left, next Saturday against USC and Nov. 27 against Oregon State. ... Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, who entered the weekend leading the nation in all-purpose yards, set the school record for all-purpose yards in a season, surpassing the 2,234 achieved by Glyn Milburn in 1992.