EUGENE, Ore. — For the first time since 2012, the Oregon Ducks found themselves atop the Associated Press Poll rankings. The last game they found themselves in the pole position was one to forget. Oregon was upset at home by, at the time, No. 14 Stanford 17-14 in overtime almost a dozen years ago. Head coach Dan Lanning and his Ducks team were determined to not let history repeat itself.
In an interview earlier this week, Lanning was asked about how he felt for his team to be ranked No. 1. He gave a simple response.
“Who cares.”
While Oregon blocked out the buzz of the media, it turned its attention to a Top-20 showdown against the No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini. It was the first game back at Autzen Stadium since two weeks ago when Oregon ousted No. 2 Ohio State 32-31 in epic fashion. This week’s test was passed with flying colors as the Ducks dominated the first half from the opening kickoff all the way to the halftime whistle. At the break, Oregon was comfortably ahead 35-3 and was able to cruise the rest of the way en route to a 29-point thrashing of the Illini to improve to 8-0.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel had another quality showing, completing 18 of his 26 pass attempts for 291 yards and four touchdowns — three through the air and one on the ground.
“I think he did a really good job of managing the pictures he was getting throughout the day,” coach Lanning said in the postgame press conference.
When the game was over, the Hawaii native rose to No. 2 all-time in the NCAA for the most yards and touchdown passes, eclipsing previous marks set by Kellen Moore at Boise State and Timmy Chang at Hawaii, a man that Gabriel grew up watching as a child.
“Each week is important within. I think you got to live that life of being present and very easy to say, but hard to do,” Gabriel said after his team’s victory.
The game began with Oregon receiving the opening kick and from the first moment felt like the Ducks were playing with a downhill presence in front of another yellow sporting sold-out crowd. Gabriel found wide receiver Tez Johnson for a 31-yard catch and run touchdown over the middle on the opening drive, helped by strong pass protection from the offensive line. Johnson ended the game as the leading receiving target tallying six catches for 102 yards and the one score.
“We always go into every game saying let’s be the most explosive team, the fastest team. Me personally I think we’re the fastest in the nation,” Johnson said on Oregon’s offensive charge out of the gate.
Oregon’s offense had six offensive drives in the first half. It found paydirt on five out of the six while the defense — following their first road shutout win since 1992 last week in West Lafayette, Indiana in a 35-0 win against Purdue — held strong, limiting Illinois to just a field goal through the first 30 minutes. Sophomore wide receiver Justius Lowe scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career on a 34-yard reception that put the Ducks up 14-0 in the first.
“I don’t think any words can describe how I felt, but I just know I was super in the moment, super excited,” Lowe explained.
The rest of the half was pure strength and prowess by Oregon who made a statement in showing the nation why it is No. 1. Running back Noah Whittington took in the final scores of the first half with an 18-yard touchdown run that put Oregon up 28-3 and four-yard touchdown catch to extend the lead to 35-3. It was Whittington’s first multi-score game of his three-year career in Eugene.
The second half was rather unceremonious and didn’t see the same fireworks Oregon came out with to begin the game, mostly thanks to the big cushion it had built. Illinois scored its lone touchdown of the day in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Ca’Lil Valentine to cut the lead to 35-9. Oregon answered back late in the fourth with an Andrew Boyle 44-yard field goal which would be the only time the Ducks would dent the scoreboard in the second half. This game now marks the fourth time in the last five games that Oregon has failed to score any points in the third quarter and has just three total in that five-game stretch.
“We’ve only scored three points I guess in the last three quarters, energy is good,” Lanning said when asked about the statistic and his team’s energy coming out of the half.
Other than that, the Ducks were in command seemingly from start to finish in every facet and dominated the Illini in every major stat category. With the win, the Ducks remain perfect on the season and improve to 8-0 staying alive as one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten Conference, along with Penn State and Indiana. Oregon entered the week No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in 12 years and will remain at the top upon the next release.
Next week, the team will travel out to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) in the Big House for the first time since 2007, a game which Oregon won 39-7. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. on the West Coast.