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Dan Lanning was asked about the significance of garnering the No. 1 spot in the AP poll this week, and his response set the tone for the week ahead. “Who cares?” he quipped back. The Ducks, their head coach proclaimed, weren’t finished eating.
Not after a 32-31 win over Ohio State in Eugene a few weeks ago. Not after a 35-0 romp of Purdue in West Lafayette last week. And they’re likely not done after thumping No. 20 Illinois in front of the home fans on Saturday, 38-9.
Illinois never threatened the top-ranked Ducks. Oregon had a 14-3 lead after the first quarter and then scored 3 unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take a commanding lead into the halftime break. And Oregon never let off the gas.
Oregon might not care about its No. 1 ranking. But Oregon sure looked worthy of it.
Here are 3 takeaways from the game.
Dillon Gabriel masterclass
Oregon’s super-senior quarterback missed his first pass of the game. He then hit 17 of his next 20, including a string of 11 straight completions that lasted from the end of the first, through the second, and into the start of the third. Gabriel cooled off a little in the third and he was picked off on a pass attempt early in the fourth, but the game was over at that point.
Gabriel fired Oregon out to an insurmountable lead. He was surgical. He averaged 11.2 yards per pass attempt while throwing for 291 yards and 3 scores. He also ran for a fourth touchdown.
On first down, Gabriel was at his absolute best. At the point Gabriel exited the game and handed the keys off to Austin Novosad, Oregon was sitting on 277 yards of total offense gained just on first-down plays. The Ducks averaged 9 yards per play on first downs with Gabriel at the controls. He threw 15 times, completed 12 of his passes, and gained 189 yards on those passes.
Against a gettable Illinois secondary, the belief was that Oregon would be able to find success throwing the ball on the Illini. Gabriel made sure Oregon was constantly operating in advantageous positions.
Ducks finally crack the Illinois pass game
A year ago, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer was picked off 10 times in 9 games. Turnovers were a persistent issue and played a significant role in the 7 losses the Illini suffered. Through the first 7 games of Altmyer’s 2024 season, he threw 15 touchdown passes against only 1 interception.
Illinois entered Saturday’s game 6-1. Altmyer was a huge reason why. But signs were there that Altmyer was still being a little too loose with the football for comfort. With 9 turnover-worthy plays (tracked by PFF) and just 1 pick, it was fair to wonder if Illinois had gotten a little lucky in the turnover department.
It was also fair to wonder if that luck would run out in Eugene when the Illini faced the toughest test of their season. And that’s exactly what happened.
Oregon picked off Altmyer twice, once in the first quarter to help build the lead and then again in the fourth quarter to make sure the Illini knew the door was slammed shut and locked. Illinois finished the game with just 161 passing yards as Altmyer completed 17 of his 35 pass attempts. While Oregon was outstanding on first downs, Illinois was far less successful. That hurt. Altmyer and the offense weren’t on schedule nearly often enough and that gave the advantage to an athletic and swarming Oregon defense.
Duck defense shines on its own end
Illinois had 5 possessions in the second half. Four of the 5 reached scoring position (inside the 40). Three of those 4 ended with turnovers on downs. Illinois had 4 trips to the red zone in the game and came away with only 9 points.
The first possession of the third quarter saw the Illini drive all the way to the Oregon 2. They went 73 yards in 8 plays and took more than 4 minutes off the clock. But the Ducks stuffed a third-and-goal run from the 4 and then broke up a fourth-and-goal pass from the 2 to get off the field.
Oregon finished with 7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. It held Illinois to 132 rushing yards. The Ducks dominated the line of scrimmage both ways in this game and perhaps exposed a little something within the Illini’s résumé. With just 293 yards of total offense, this was the third time in the last 4 games that Illinois has been held under 300 yards of total offense.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.