Oregon entered Week 11 riding high, fresh off a No. 1 ranking in the first version of the College Football Playoff rankings and facing Maryland as a massive favorite. While the Ducks would remove any drama about the final outcome ahead of the final whistle, it was far from a flawless performance by Dan Lanning’s group.

Some of the issues for Oregon included 12 penalties for 95 yards and a 6-for-15 effort on third down. The good news is the Ducks avoided a turnover and went +3 in turnover margin to put this one away late, but it was largely uncomfortable until well into the fourth quarter in a game Oregon was largely expected to dominate.

Either way, it goes down as a win all the same and is unlikely to cost Oregon in any of the polls ahead of Week 12. For now, the Ducks can move on with a 39-18 win over Maryland before preparing for a road trip to Wisconsin.

Here are the key takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Trickery ignites Oregon’s push

Coming out of halftime, Oregon was clinging to a 21-10 lead and produced a quick 3-and-out on the first drive of the second half. The defense worked a quick punt out of the Terrapins, and it looked like another drive for the Ducks would result in a 3-and-out.

Then, Dan Lanning pushed a gutsy button from Oregon’s own 22-yard line. With a 4th-and-3, the Ducks dialed up a fake punt, and it worked beautifully.

The snap ultimately went to star defensive lineman Jordan Burch, and his open-field running ability was impressive while covering 36 yards and a first down:

Oregon would use more trickery down near the goal line with a touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Gernorris Wilson, a reserve offensive lineman. Capping the drive of trickery, offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. ran the ball on a 2-point conversion to give the Ducks a 29-10 lead.

The offense never fully got unhitched with the next 3 drives going turnover on downs, punt, and field goal, but that drive to get 8 points provided a much-needed cushion.

Defense sets the tone early — and finishes it off late

No matter how you slice it, Oregon’s offense was frustrating for much of the night against the Terrapins. The final score may not reflect that, but some of that has to do with how impressive the defense was.

Oregon’s second touchdown of the night came from its defense. Jordan Burch, a player who had his fingerprints all over this game, came up with a strip-sack of Billy Edwards Jr. that was scooped up by Brandon Johnson and returned for a touchdown.

Even with that early scoop-and-score and the trickery in the third quarter, Maryland still got the ball back down by 11 and plenty of time to make some noise. That’s when the Duck defense put things to bed.

From deep in his own territory, Edwards threw an interception to give Oregon great field position. The Ducks would settle for a field goal, giving the ball back to Maryland with another chance and the Terrapins trailing by 14.

Edwards would once again make a miscue, throwing a 2nd interception (his 3rd turnover of the game) to seal the deal. This time, the Ducks would roll down for a touchdown to firmly solidify the final outcome.

That’s the kind of performance Oregon wants to see if the offense runs into tough sledding.

History for Gabriel

In a record that only seemed like a matter of time until it fell, Gabriel set the FBS’s all-time mark for total touchdowns accounted for. He tied former Houston star Case Keenum at 178 touchdowns with a first-half pass and would eventually surpass Keenum with his 179th touchdown in the second half.

By the time this one was wrapped up, Gabriel had thrown a 3rd touchdown pass, giving him 180 total touchdowns in his career. It wasn’t the biggest game of Gabriel’s career with just 183 yards passing, but he avoided costly turnovers and found his guys when the Ducks needed it.