How Oregon football won first top-3 game at Autzen vs. Ohio State

Third-ranked Oregon's defense was faced with the game’s deciding play after going punch for punch with No. 2 Ohio State all night.

The Ducks held a slim lead with time dwindling, and the defense made the play when it mattered most.

Scrambling after not finding a single receiver open, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard stepped up to run and slid down after a small gain in hopes of calling a timeout in Duck territory and kicking a manageable field goal.

A stadium that was once rocking -- eclipsing over 100 decibels of sound pre-play throughout the game’s last drive -- went silent for the briefest of moments.

Howard, along with every single player, coach and fan at Autzen Stadium Saturday night collectively looked up at the scoreboard to read four massive zeroes and above the remaining time: Oregon 32, Ohio State 31.  

The crowd exploded. Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa fell to his knees. Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad looked at coach Dan Lanning before jumping up in celebration. Howard held his head in his hands.

“We did it,” Bassa said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done.”

In the storied lore of the Oregon football program, never has there been a top-5 matchup at Autzen Stadium. In Lanning’s short two-and-a-half-year tenure as head coach, the Ducks had never won a game of this magnitude.  

Until Saturday night.

The Ducks responded to every haymaker, every swing thrown, every bit of adversity faced, to defeat the undefeated Buckeyes in front of a record 60,129 fans in Eugene.

“We talked all week about our players taking jabs,” Lanning said. “It’s not about throwing haymakers; it’s about being accurate and precise with jabs. The next play is the most important play and I thought they really owned that tonight.”

Ultimately, the Ducks launched the final haymaker Saturday night before students and fans poured on to the field for the massive midseason win.

Here are four takeaways from the Ducks’ massive victory over No. 2 Ohio State.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel masterful, impactful in best performance to date

Though the sixth-year quarterback and Oklahoma transfer has put up his fair share of strong stats through five games this season, Saturday night was Dillon Gabriel at his most impactful.

The senior quarterback, fresh off a disappointing stretch of games against UCLA and Michigan State in the last two weeks, didn’t commit a turnover and sliced and diced the Buckeyes when it mattered most.

“It’s hard to replace experience,” Lanning said of Gabriel. “This guy’s been a part of some games that were some really, really big moments. Even though that stadium was packed, you feel like Dillon is out there operating in an empty place. Empty stadium like this was Tuesday or another practice … he did that consistently tonight, focusing on what’s next and how can you accomplish it.”

Gabriel threw for 341 yards, completing 23 of his 34 throws, while also rushing for 32 yards and another score.

Trailing by two with six minutes left in the game, Gabriel led the game-winning drive, orchestrating the offense all the way down to the goal line before Atticus Sappington drilled the game-winning kick with about two minutes to play.

It’s exactly what the Ducks brought the quarterback in to do: To win games like Saturday night.

“He showed toughness,” receiver Tez Johnson said. “He went out there and faced a top-2 opponent and beat them. That shows a lot right there… he’s competitive, he’s willing to compete every time he gets on the field, and the poise that he had the entire game was unbelievable.”

Gabriel’s mastery of the offense also led to efficiency in the run game. Tailback Jordan James had another strong rushing night, totaling 115 yards and a score, helping Oregon outrush the Buckeyes. Receiver Evan Stewart had a career night, hauling in seven catches for 149 yards and score. Tez Johnson had another seven catches for 75 yards and a score and Terrance Ferguson caught four passes for 62 yards.

But the head of the snake was Gabriel, whose cool and composed demeanor led the way for Oregon’s most complete offensive performance of the season.

Ducks win on crucial downs, take advantage of key moments to secure win over Buckeyes

In recent losses, especially both defeats at the hands of Washington last season, Oregon lost on key downs in tight games.

The Ducks lost both matchups against the Huskies in 2023 by three points after several failed fourth-down conversion attempts, or a failure to stop the opponent when it mattered the most.

That didn’t happen Saturday night in Eugene.

Oregon was reeling from a would-be interception by Bassa that was eventually ruled a catch and over 30-yard gain for the Buckeyes instead. Ohio State scored a go-ahead touchdown a few plays later. After the Ducks' offense stalled out on its next drive, the defense made a play when it counted.

Defensive lineman Derrick Harmon stole momentum back by ripping the ball out of OSU RB Quinshon Judkins’ arms. Two plays later, the Ducks scored.

Later in the second quarter, the Ducks scored a touchdown and benefited from an Ohio State personal foul that put the ball on the 50-yard-line for the ensuing kickoff. Knowing exactly what he needed to do, kicker Andrew Boyle hit a line drive right at an Ohio State player and the Ducks recovered. Six plays later, Sappington hit a field goal to give Oregon a lead.

Then late, Gabriel helped the Ducks take the lead on a last-second drive and the Oregon defense held on to win the game after Howard’s too-little, too-late run ended in a slide as the clock expired.

The plays that had eluded the Ducks in recent years in crushing losses did not evade them Saturday night.

“We always like to put out the fire,” Bassa said about forcing turnovers. “We’re going to win this game on defense. Heading into the fourth quarter I brought the whole team up and said this is the time to earn your respect and time to finish it out.”

Duck defense stands up after Jordan Burch goes down

Speaking of Oregon’s defense, the Ducks were dealt a tough blow this week when star edge rusher Jordan Burch was injured during a Thursday practice.

Without one of its best defenders, Oregon put together its most clutch defensive performance of the season. The first step was stopping the OSU run game.

“That’s something we were really focused on,” Lanning said. “We had to come in here and be the more physical team. We knew they were going to be hard to run against, but we also knew we were never going to abandon the run.”

Noting that in each of Ohio State’s recent losses over the years the opponent outrushed them, Lanning and his staff challenged the Ducks to win on the ground on both sides of the ball.

The Ducks held the Buckeyes’ star tandem of Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson to just 110 rushing yards on 21 carries.

On the other side the Ducks ran for 155 yards, averaging 5 yards per carry.

Make no mistake: The Ducks are national title contenders

In front of a national audience, with ESPN ‘College GameDay’ in Eugene in the morning and the whole country watching, Oregon sent the nation a message Saturday.

“What’s so hard about football is that this is such an emotional game and such an impactful game,” Lanning said. “In moments like this you want to be filled with complete joy. Relief is one of the biggest feelings you feel, because of how hard your guys work and how bad you know they want it. But it’s never about the team that wants it the most. It’s never about the team that has great emotion. It’s about the team that executes. I am filled with great excitement, I’m really proud of our guys, but I’m also really excited to figure out what we can attack and improve, because the team we are today, Oct. 12, is not going to be the same team we are in December.”

And Lanning is right. Despite its biggest win of the season on the biggest stage, Oregon's stage will undoubtedly be bigger later in the season. Perhaps in the Big Ten Championship, if the Ducks take care of business. Perhaps against the Buckeyes, if Ohio State wins out and gets some help along the way.

Perhaps in the College Football Playoff, if things fall into place for an Oregon team that hasn’t shied away from its national title hopes.

Saturday night wasn’t the final step, but a massive foot forward against a team that has perennially competed among the nation’s best in recent decades.

“We knew that regardless of the result of this game that every single one of our goals was in front of us,” Lanning said. “We always go into every game with the mindset of can we do everything that we can to prepare to win a game? Our guys prepared all week unbelievably. They worked really hard during the week; this isn’t one of those weeks where you have to motivate guys to work. This isn’t one of those teams that I have to motivate to work. They embrace it.”

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.

WATCH: Dan Lanning speaks after No. 3 Oregon downed No. 2 Ohio State

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning speaks after No. 3 Oregon defeated No. 2 Ohio State Saturday night at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.