Carli Feist has been a Ducks fan “forever.” She grew up watching quarterback Kellen Clemens because they’re both from Burns, Oregon. After No. 3 Oregon’s win over No. 2 Ohio State, she said, “I’ve never felt anything like this. It was one of a kind.”

That’s the feeling that Oregon fans have been waiting for under Dan Lanning. Twice, last year, they were on the other end of heartbreaking, last-second losses. Now, Lanning and the Ducks — and a ecstatic Autzen Stadium crowd — have their signature moment. They’ve been waiting for this circus to spin their way. It happened in front of the world.

The day wasn’t just about the game. It was a 48-hour celebration of football in a place few college football fans can reliably point out on a map. The group who could, though, was ESPN College GameDay.

There was little doubt that the college football world’s marquee pregame show would travel to Eugene last week. Oregon against Ohio State — no matter the ranking — was a circled-in-pen date on the calendar. It didn’t matter that Oct. 12 was potentially the most game-packed Saturday of the year. Oregon had captured the eyes of the nation.

“I think it’s a celebration of the culture of college football, and there’s very little in our entire society and culture that’s as unifying as sports in general,” GameDay anchor Rece Davis said on Friday. “I think college football specifically, it’s a short period of time that students are on campus, and to have sort of a communal experience, a unified goal, big game, exciting event, and to have a forum to celebrate that is really important.”

When Ducks fans began to pack Memorial Quad more than 12 hours before the show was scheduled to go live, an emotional chain of events were set in motion. Oregon student Wilder Lewis was on campus for Oregon’s last GameDay appearance, in 2022. Was this better?

“For UCLA (in 2022),” he said early on Friday morning, “it was crazy…but the stakes were just not as big. I felt like everybody at Oregon felt as if we were going to win regardless. Coming into this game, there’s a lot more uncertainty. It’s just a whole ‘nother level to this one.”

It was a moment.

The atmosphere was so great that it drew more than Ducks and Buckeyes fans to the city. Springfield resident Craig Murphy is a Washington State alumnus who is part of one of GameDay’s great traditions. He told the story of “Ol’ Crimson,” a Cougar flag that makes its way across the nation to the set every week. It started at the show in Austin in 2003, when the Texas Longhorns hosted Kansas State.

“And several of us were like, ‘There’s a Cougar flag on GameDay in Texas,’” Murphy said, “and it just kind of started from there. People started talking to each other and got on a message board, and some people said, ‘Hey, I’m in that area. I can do it this week.’ And then as the word spread, more and more people heard about it, more and more people got involved.”

It was Murphy who brought the flag to the Quad on Saturday morning. Was he planning on watching the game?

“Probably not,” he said, “I think it’s on the same time as Wazzu.” He was there for the moment.

Those who stuck around were treated to an instant classic. Every moment — two Dillon Gabriel bombs to his flying receivers, an onside kick which bounced off the Buckeye returner and Ohio State quarterback Will Howard’s slide a moment too late to save the last second of clock — felt like a moment promised to Ducks fans when Lanning took over in 2021. They’ve been on the other end often throughout his tenure. Finally, it feels like he has a signature win.

Lanning joined GameDay ahead of the game on Saturday alongside his mentor: legendary former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. A fist bump from the man — whose seven national titles are the most in history — felt like a good omen.

When Lanning eventually left the field on Saturday night, he’d done a whole lot more than fist bump. He’d made his best effort to chest-bump and bear-hug his way to the media room outside Autzen Stadium. He stopped on the way to offer an emotional interview to NBC reporter Kathryn Tappen.

“I’m so proud of our players, I’m so proud of our crowd,” Lanning said. “You talk about big moments…this is why you come to Oregon.”

The crowd was the story as much as it was the Ducks. A bevy of false start penalties against the Buckeyes’ offense, including three on one drive that eventually forced a punt, shook the visitors. Every crowd moment seemed like a turning point. Sixty thousand voices sounded like something far-greater than the six-figure crowds other schools — including Michigan, Oregon’s Week 10 opponent — routinely pack in.

What’s going to be most relevant for everyone who made their way into Autzen Stadium last weekend, though, is the memory. Media personality Josh Pate mentioned after the game that, “You only get one of those in a lifetime.” Everything, he suggested, from the execution to the ending to the field rush fell into line as if ordained by the football gods for the night of Saturday, Oct. 12. He wasn’t wrong.

Saturday night was that perfect moment. Eugene made it so.