Oregon will take an unblemished record and top-10 ranking into its eagerly anticipated showdown with Ohio State, after the Ducks remained unbeaten Friday night.
The UO football team improved to 5-0 by winning its first conference home game as a member of the Big Ten, 31-10 over Michigan State. The game was played before 59,802 fans, tied for the 10th-largest crowd in Autzen Stadium history.
There's a good chance Friday's crowd will move down a notch on that top-10 list next week, when Oregon hosts Ohio State in a battle that could have major Big Ten title implications. While the college football world has been anticipating the matchup since schedules were announced, the Ducks have had to block out that noise and focus week to week.
Now, it can be acknowledged.
"We're finally there, right? We're going to play them now," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "It's a great team. Obviously, they do a lot of things — there's a reason they're one of the best teams in the country. So it's gonna be a great challenge for us and our fans are gonna have to show up and be phenomenal."
The Ducks improved to 2-0 in Big Ten play this season with Friday's win, which saw them in control throughout. Jordan James ran for 166 yards and a touchdown, Dillon Gabriel accounted for three touchdowns and the UO defense was in position to hold a second straight opponent under 200 yards of offense until rotating in some depth players late in the game.
"Any time that you play a physical game like that and control the rushing attack on both sides of the ball, it's going to create success," Lanning said. "… Still some moments there for growth; in the red zone we've got to come away with points, we've got to go score. That didn't show up a couple times tonight and it could hurt you later on in the season, so that's something we'll definitely attack moving forward this year. But overall, proud of our guys' performance and their growth."
Gabriel finished 20-of-32 for 257 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, plus a rushing touchdown. He overcame a couple of rare early mistakes, throwing both interceptions inside the red area in the first half.
"Just was forcing things early," Gabriel said. "Things that need to be corrected. But we talk about playing the next play and having to respond; there's no option, you go back out there and you gotta keep swinging. So that's what I kept doing."
While the passing game was slow to get going, the run game was not. James had his three longest carries of the season so far in the first half, averaging 6.9 yards per rush on his 24 carries Friday.
"It felt good," James said. "I've been waiting to break those 20-plus yard runs. It felt good getting my knees up and getting up out of there."
The UO defense, meanwhile, had five sacks among its six tackles for loss, with Jordan Burch accounting for 2.5 sacks. Nearly half of Michigan State's total offense — 120 of 250 yards in the game — came on the Spartans' two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, after Oregon had taken a 31-0 lead and began substituting liberally.
Oregon's defense held Michigan State to 2-of-11 on third down. Over a seven-day span featuring wins over UCLA and the Spartans, the Ducks allowed just three third-down conversions on 21 attempts, and just 4.2 yards per play overall.
"I try to get after the quarterback," Burch said. "I feel like these past few weeks, I've been doing a good job at that, just listening to coach. And then the team, we've been honing in — we have a meeting every Thursday just to talk about what we can fix, (and) I feel like everything we talk about, we've been doing."
The night began in halting fashion for the Ducks. They went three-and-out on the game's first possession, before allowing Michigan State to drive into the red area. Oregon forced a fumble at the goal line and recovered, but the Ducks themselves turned it over inside the 5-yard line as well, on Gabriel's first interception.
"We had a conversation," Lanning said of Gabriel's early turnovers. "But that's a moment to reset. This guy's play a lot of snaps. It's not easy to play college football. The timing is so important; understanding where we're at on the field is so important. I think those will be great growth moments for Dillon."
The UO defense responded with a three-and-out, and Gabriel drove the Ducks to their first score — a rushing touchdown by the Oregon quarterback. He threw another interception inside the red area on the next UO possession, but James scored to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter, and Gabriel threw a touchdown pass to Evan Stewart just before halftime for a 21-0 lead.
Andrew Boyle made a 50-yard field for the only points of the third quarter — Oregon's first field goal of 50 yards or longer since 2008. Gabriel threw a touchdown pass to Tez Johnson early in the fourth, capping a day of 10 receptions for 84 yards by Johnson.
Now, it's on to the Buckeyes.
"I think it will be a great challenge and a great opportunity for us in front of our home crowd to play ball," Gabriel said. "You dream for moments like these and games like this. And I think everyone's excited for it."
