Yes, Saturday night really happened.
After taking down No. 2 Ohio State in the biggest game in Autzen Stadium history, the Oregon Ducks now sit in pole position in the race for the Big Ten title. Oregon's thrilling 32-31 victory was an instant classic, filled with big plays, lead changes, and countless memorable moments. Saturday night gave the Ducks their highest-ranked home win in program history, so let's break down how it happened by taking a look at the five keys to their victory over the Buckeyes.
1. Dillon Gabriel is made for these moments
Just over a year ago, Dillon Gabriel played the biggest game of his life as No. 12 Oklahoma took down No. 3 Texas in 2023's rendition of the Red River Rivalry. Gabriel threw for 285 yards and ran for 113 with touchdowns through the air and on the ground, leading the Sooners on a five-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead with 15 seconds to go. That game is no longer the best of Gabriel's prolific college football career.
On the largest possible regular season stage, Gabriel was unleashed, tossing for 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding another with his legs on a 27-yard keeper that gave Oregon a 29-28 lead early in the fourth quarter. This was the type of game that Gabriel was brought in from the transfer portal to win, and against the Buckeyes on Saturday night, he absolutely delivered. Gabriel threw the ball all over the place without a single turnover-worthy play, something the Ducks needed after a trio of red zone interceptions in their wins over UCLA and Michigan State.
Gabriel successfully attacked every area of the field while finding a total of seven different pass-catchers for receptions. Nothing stood out like his deep ball on Saturday night, as he completed all four of his attempts over 20 yards downfield for a total of 177 yards and a touchdown. It finally looked like Gabriel was able to establish a connection with receiver Evan Stewart, who hauled in a career-high 149 yards on seven receptions — including the longest of his career, a 69-yard strike down the right sideline that set up his touchdown on a fade route to the back-left corner of the endzone two plays later. My roommate Beck Parsons wrote about Stewart's early-season struggles this week for UO's student newspaper. As we watched Stewart haul in pass after pass from the student section, he held up his copy of the Emerald's gameday edition, proclaiming that his article had motivated Stewart's breakout performance. Stewart's seven receptions were matched by Tez Johnson for the team lead. Johnson turned his seven catches into 75 yards, the majority of which came on a 48-yard bomb from Gabriel that gave the Ducks the lead with just over a minute to play in the first half. Gabriel and his receivers hunted Ohio State's star corner Denzel Burke all night long, targeting him eight times for eight receptions and 179 yards — including Stewart's 69-yarder, his 10-yard touchdown, and Johnson's 48-yard score.
Gabriel balled out despite less-than-ideal circumstances as he was pressured on 38.9 percent of his dropbacks, well above the 24.6 percent mark he had seen across Oregon's first five games. The 14 pressures he faced on Saturday were the most he had seen since Oklahoma's week eight win last year over Gabriel's first school, UCF. No lineman was without blame, as Ajani Cornelius and Nishad Strother allowed three pressures, Josh Conerly Jr. and Marcus Harper II allowed two, and Iapani Laloulu allowed one. Despite this, Gabriel had his O-line's back as he wasn't sacked a single time, constantly maneuvering himself in and out of the pocket to be able to get the ball away or scramble. The 14 pressures are the most Gabriel has ever faced in a game without taking a sack.
2. Jordan James was born to tote the rock
A week after rushing for a career-high 164 yards against Michigan State, Jordan James delivered another masterful performance on Saturday, this time against the nation's best defense. James carried 23 times for 115 yards and a touchdown, his third straight game with at least 20 carries, 100 yards, and a score. Against a ridiculously talented Ohio State defensive front — linemen Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, and Tyleik Williams are all projected to be day one or two picks in the NFL draft — James came through time after time, rushing for seven first downs on the night. The Ducks' O-line was able to help James generate an average of two yards before contact per carry, below their season mark of 2.33 yards on James' carries. It was James' ability to pick up yards after contact — he finished with 69 — that got the job done. This season, James' 409 yards after contact are the 16th most in the country.
After defensive lineman, Derrick Harmon straight-up stole the football from Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins to set up Oregon's offense at the Buckeyes' 28 yard line about halfway through the first quarter, it only took two plays — both James carries — for the Ducks to cash in for their first score of the game. James has been difficult to tackle all season but may have saved his best performance for the biggest moment. His seven missed tackles forced were the second most of any game in his career, only topped by the eight he forced last week against Michigan State. The seven missed tackles were also the most that any player has forced against the Buckeye defense this season — two more than Iowa's Kaleb Johnson, who is second in the country with 937 yards on the ground this year.
3. The defensive line stepped up
In a game where they were without their best player Jordan Burch, Oregon's D-line stepped up massively on Saturday to help slow down Ohio State's offensive attack. Burch was coming off a dominant performance last week against Michigan State in which he notched a career-best 2.5 sacks, but suffered a non-contact lower-body injury in practice on Thursday. Burch was listed as questionable prior to the game but was notably absent when the Ducks took the field to warm up. He was later spotted on the sideline in street clothes and on crutches. With Burch out, the rest of the line was forced to step up and did so in a big way.
The Ducks pressured Ohio State quarterback Will Howard a total of ten times on the night, by far the most pressure he has faced in any game this season. Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti, and Harmon led the way with three pressures each, followed by A'Mauri Washington with two, and Emar'rion Winston and Jamaree Caldwell with one. Uiagelelei recorded the game's lone sack when Howard slipped in front of him trying to escape a collapsing pocket on the first play of Ohio State's final drive. Across the board, Uiagelelei played one of the best games of his young career, adding a pair of tackles for loss — both when his team needed him to make a play on third and one. Harmon was once again excellent as a pass rusher but played his best game against the run with Burch out. The 95.0 run defense grade he earned from PFF was the best of his career, and the early strip of Judkins helped prevent what could have very easily been a 14-0 deficit for the Ducks. Tuioti set a strong edge while totaling three tackles and Caldwell was able to cause consistent disruption from his nose tackle position against both the run and the pass, including a tackle for loss on a screen pass to receiver Emeka Egbuka.
4. Special teams (kind of)
When the Ducks found themselves trailing 14-12 early in the second quarter despite matching Ohio State with a pair of touchdowns each, it looked like we might have been in the midst of witnessing special teams cost them in another big game. Oregon's special teams unit began their day with a botched snap/hold on their first extra point, a missed field goal, and a failed trick-play two-point conversion. This was not the sight Oregon fans, who have been haunted by the ghosts of special teams blunders past, wanted to see. Immediately following that second failed point after try, everything changed. After a personal foul on Ohio State's Jordan Hancock moved the Ducks' kickoff from the 35 yard line to midfield, head coach Dan Lanning went back to his bag of aggressive tricks. Kicker Andrew Boyle sent a surprise onside kick straight at the nearest Ohio State player who attempted (and failed) to avoid the ball. As it ricocheted back towards the Ducks, freshman tight end Roger Saleapaga jumped on the ball to secure a crucial possession. Oregon then proceeded to move the ball another 32 yards, capping the drive with an Atticus Sappington field goal to go up 15-14. That possession would later prove decisive in a game decided by just a single point. Sappington and Boyle each hit on their next extra points before Sappington put the game away with a 19-yard field goal on Oregon's final drive.
5. The crowd
Finally, we have you, the Oregon fans. Autzen Stadium was packed for the biggest game in its history with a record-setting attendance of 60,129 fans. Those 60,000 sounded like 100,000 on Saturday night, making as much of an impact as I've seen in any college football game. Nowhere was this more evident than Ohio State's third drive of the game. Howard threw a screen pass to Egbuka for a loss of two on first down before a false start put the Buckeyes back to set up second and 17. Howard then scrambled for six before yet another false start made it third and 16. Ohio State only picked up three on third down, forcing them to punt where a delay of game pushed them back another five yards. Safe to say, it was loud at Autzen on Saturday, which was evidenced by the number of pictures that have since surfaced of Ohio State fans covering their ears in an attempt to block out the deafening crowd noise. The Autzen crowd was just as clutch as their Ducks as they forced another pair of false starts on Ohio State's 13-play field goal drive to take the lead in the fourth quarter. On first and 10 from the Oregon 19, a false start put Ohio State behind the chains before the Buckeyes' next three plays picked up just two yards, forcing them to settle for a field goal to go up 31-29. Had the crowd not forced tackle Tegra Tshabola to false start and the Buckeyes had scored a touchdown on that possession rather than the field goal they got, Oregon would have needed a touchdown to match on their final drive. Instead, Ohio State's field goal put them up by two, allowing Sappington to give the Ducks the lead for good four minutes later.
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