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Oregon ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25 for first time in over a decade

Cory Nightingale

By Cory Nightingale

Published:

Oregon registered its first road shutout in over 30 years on Friday night at Purdue, and a few days later it earned another achievement that’s been a long-time coming: the top spot in the AP Poll.

For the first time since 2012, when the Ducks were coached by Chip Kelly and their quarterback was a redshirt freshman named Marcus Mariota, Oregon is college football’s top dog — at least for now. With previous No. 1 Texas losing at home to Georgia on Saturday night, Oregon assumed the No. 1 ranking in Sunday’s new AP Poll.

The then-No. 2 Ducks were in position to become No. 1 after easily dispatching of Purdue in a 35-0 road thumping on Friday night. It was Oregon’s first road shutout since 1992, and it paved the way for the ultimate reward on Sunday. The previous week, the Ducks took down Ohio State in Eugene for a statement win that moved them up to No. 2 in the AP Poll.

So, when Texas fell, Oregon was primed to assume the top spot for the first time in 12 seasons. Georgia moved up 3 spots in Sunday’s poll to No. 2 after taking down the Longhorns. Penn State was at No. 3 and Ohio State was at No. 4, meaning the Big Ten had 3 of the top 4 teams in the new poll.

Dan Lanning’s team begins life at No. 1 this Saturday when it hosts No. 20 Illinois. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Cory Nightingale