Oregon football starts fast, pitches a shutout to get past Purdue

A short week, a long trip into the Eastern time zone, a hangover following an emotional and thrilling win against Ohio State, a trap game against a hungry and desperate Purdue team.

None of those pregame narratives mattered for No. 2 Oregon.

The Ducks went into Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, and walloped the overmatched Boilermakers, 35-0, Friday night in front of a crowd of 57,463.

Oregon improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten Conference with the victory. It's the Ducks' first 7-0 start since 2013.

It was also the first shutout victory for the Ducks since beating Arizona 49-0 in 2012, and their first shutout win on the road since a 7-0 win against Oregon State in 1992.

"This place had a history of being a place that people struggle to come play at, especially coming off highs like last week," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "But I was proud our guys were able to go out there and get a victory. Watching the game from the sideline I think there's lots of things we can improve, a lot that we can get better at. I'm excited about our guys' demeanor in the locker room after that game, saying 'Ok, what do we need to go attack?' That's there mindset right now."

Here are three takeaways from Friday's win.

Fast start ignites Oregon

Any thoughts that the Ducks might sleepwalk their way against the struggling Boilermakers (1-6, 0-4) six days after beating the Buckeyes, 32-31, at a raucous Autzen Stadium were quickly put to rest as Oregon scored touchdowns on its first three drives.

The Ducks outgained the Boilermakers 160-54 in the first quarter, including 120-0 on passing yards, as they went up 14-0 on rushing TDs by Jordan James of 8 and 1 yards.

Just minutes into the second quarter, quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw a 12-yard TD pass to wide receiver Tez Johnson to put Oregon up 21-0.

The Ducks would go scoreless until the fourth quarter when they padded their lead with two more touchdowns – an 8-yard reception by Noah Whittington and a 12-yard run by Jay Harris.

Despite the scoring lull in the middle of the game, Oregon scored five TDs and totaled 421 yards of offense as the Ducks were never threatened in what was their most convincing win of the season.

That it came during what could've been a challenging week was even more impressive.

"I think they handled it well," Lanning said. "I thought our guys came in ready to work on Monday understanding you can't sit back and rest on your laurels. We gotta go improve, we gotta get better and I think that started Monday in practice for our guys … and I'm glad the score indicated that at the end of the game."

Ducks' stifling defense puts up a goose egg

For the second time in their last three games, the Ducks' defense held their opponent scoreless until the fourth quarter.

For the first time in 12 years, in never let them put points on the board.

"Being able to accomplish that is something we believe in, is the standard we want to uphold, so for our guys to be able to do that, I'm proud of them," Lanning said of the shutout.

Oregon held Purdue to 301 total yards and registered three sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and had two takeaways – including a game-ending interception in the end zone by reserve cornerback Kam Alexander.

The Boilermakers also made it into the red zone just one time the entire game.

Teitum Tuioti led the Ducks with six tackles, including a sack. Matayo Uiagalelei and Devon Jackson also had a sack, and Kobe Savage had a fumble recovery.

Oregon held Purdue quarterback Ryan Browner to 93 yards passing and nine completions on 19 attempts. The Boilermakers did rush for 208 yards on 40 attempts.

"I think it can be better," Lanning said of the run defense. "I mean, obviously when a team's playing a little bit left-handed, they didn't have a lot of success passing, they're going to have more success running the ball when they do it as many times as they did, but we have to be better at it if we want to be want we want to be."

How did Oregon's Heisman Trophy candidate perform?

Gabriel opened the season as the odds-on favorite to win college football's top individual honor.

His performance last week against Ohio State kept him near the top of the list among midseason favorites.

Friday against Purdue he completed 20 of 25 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

A perfectly placed 49-yard bomb to Evan Stewart set up the Ducks' touchdown on their opening drive, and he had scoring throws of 12 and 8 yards before leaving the game midway through the fourth quarter.

He also had a pick late in the second quarter when he overthrew Johnson near the sideline instead of taking a shot at a wide-open Justius Lowe for what would've been a walk-in TD.

"I think he wanted that takeaway back. Obviously that's something that can't happen and we continue to preach it and that's something we have to keep attacking," Lanning said. "But overall, he operated really well within the offense, put us in some advantageous checks at times, too, which is great to see."

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG.