“I think everybody in the nation needs to recognize what kind of quarterback we got. He’s a really really special player,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said after his squad’s 38-17 victory at defending national champions Michigan.

He’s referring to the 294 yard, two total touchdown day from his star quarterback, Dillon Gabriel. 

The visiting Ducks elected to play defense first, forcing the ball into the hands of the lackluster Michigan offense. A 3-and-out lasting just under two minutes ensued, giving Oregon the opportunity to give the ball to its playmakers early on. 

Oregon started its offensive attack with three straight screen passes which totaled 26 yards and set up two 1st downs. The Ducks did not slow down there. 

After a methodical march downfield, including 7/7 passing from Dillon Gabriel, the Ducks punched it in. Gabriel found Evan Stewart on a fade route to the back left corner of the endzone, and Stewart fought  off contact to make the catch and break the ice. 

Another Michigan 3-and-out followed, capped off by a Davis Warren fumble caused by his own lineman. The stop was one of seven of Oregon’s tackles for losses on the day. However, disaster struck on the ensuing punt. 

Due to a shoulder injury sustained by receiver and primary returner Tez Johnson, Ryan Pellum dropped back to return the kick. Pellum caught it and made a move, but in the process he lost the ball. The Wolverines pounced on it and gifted themselves an opportunity to start fresh in Oregon territory. 

“I don’t really have any details on that right now. He wasn’t able to come back in the game,” Lanning said about Johnson’s injury.

Michigan took that opportunity in stride and tied the game up with a seven-yard strike to Tyler Morris. 

The Ducks responded quickly with a two-minute, 75 yard touchdown drive that ended in a Noah Whittington punch-in from the 1-yard line. The one-yarder was set up by the 20-yard dump off to Terrance Ferguson, on which he was mere inches away from scoring. 

The Wolverines’ failure to get the offense moving gave Oregon the ball back right away. The Ducks’ steady offense dominated its way to another touchdown and the first multi-score lead of the game. 

It happened on another long throw, short punch into the endzone combination. 

Gabriel unloaded a missile down the right sideline to Traeshon Holden for 38-yards and set the Ducks up at the six. Just 19 seconds later, Whittington strutted in for his second score of the day and a 21-7 lead for Oregon. 

Holden, who has seen limited action recently, continued making plays. Gabriel found Holden over the middle for a 44-yard catch over the middle, which included him making a Michigan defensive back fall down after a nifty juke move. He finished with 149 receiving yards on just six receptions.

“I’m not surprised, this is how [Holden’s] been practicing,” Gabriel said. “You see three weeks ago and you see now, just growth and a guy who’s wanting to be better. I’m extremely proud of him, and I have a bunch of belief in him as a player and a person.”

The next play would have easily been the most exceptional of the game if not for an illegal man downfield penalty. Gabriel, with all the time in the world, threw one to the back of the endzone, supposedly out of play, but Stewart jumped up, grabbed it with one hand and got two feet down for an unreal catch. Alas, that 34-yard wonder-touchdown was taken off the board. 

Gabriel was still able to tack onto the Ducks’ lead before the end of the half. Iapani Laloulu cleared a huge gap for Gabriel, leading to an incredibly smart scramble through the middle for a 23-yard score on the ground.

The first half ended 28-10. 

The second half started as badly as it could have for Oregon. Michigan’s defense forced a 3-and-out, which led to a 75-yard Wolverine drive that ended in a Warren dart to Peyton O’Leary to move the Ducks’ lead to two scores. 

Michigan’s offense consistently stemmed from its ability to get the ball into the hands of tight end Colston Loveland, who recorded seven catches for 112 yards on Saturday.

As soon as the Wolverines scored, the home fans returned. 

With the crowd behind it, Michigan looked as if it had a route back into the contest and had escaped the routing at hand. The Wolverines thought they forced a punt on 4th down, but they had a man lined up over the long snapper, which resulted in a five-yard penalty and a 1st down for Oregon.

The Ducks couldn’t convert on the mistakes, as they settled for an Atticus Sappington 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 31-17. 

Following the field goal, each team could only generate small pockets of offense until Michigan strung together a few 1st downs and had the Ducks on their heels. 

The character of that drive became a physical 26-yard run by Alex Orji, who broke multiple tackles to get into the redzone halfway through the 4th quarter. 

The Wolverines could only gain five more yards that possession and turned it over on downs, which effectively ended the game. 

“In the first half we did a really good job of establishing our run defense. We gave up a couple explosives in past games, just bad eyes…but overall I feel like we’re growing each week as a defense,” safety Kobe Savage said. 

The effort from Oregon stayed relentless and didn’t end until the final whistle, which is incredibly important in matchups such as this one. The Ducks waddled into the Big House, did their job and now they move on as one of the nation’s only undefeated teams. 

Oregon returns home to Eugene next Saturday against the struggling Maryland Terrapins (4-4, 1-4 Big Ten) at 4:00 p.m.