No. 2 Oregon (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) hasn’t started a season with seven straight wins in 11 years. The Ducks are presented with the opportunity to do just that, as they hit the road for Purdue (1-5, 0-3 Big Ten) on Friday.
Oregon exited Autzen Stadium off an all-time high last weekend after it defeated Ohio State 32-31 in a Saturday night thriller. The Ducks are playing their best football of the season, taking down Big Ten powerhouses in the process.
But to maintain their spot as second in the nation, the Ducks need to take care of business in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Boilermakers are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, with their lone victory coming in the first game of the season against Indiana State University. Still, Purdue enters the matchup off a narrow 50-49 loss against No. 23 Illinois.
The Boilermakers rallied against the Illini last Saturday, but the defense conceded too much yardage in the fourth quarter. Illinois converted on a 38-yard field goal as the clock expired and Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne was sacked on a potential game-winning two-point conversion.
Finding the endzone is something the Boilermakers have struggled to do this season. Since Purdue’s 49-0 win to open the season, it has been outscored 234 to 93. Browne and Hudson Card have split time at quarterback, but only combine for 10 touchdowns to four interceptions.
And unfortunately for the Boilermakers, the Oregon defense put up a monster performance against the Buckeyes’ star-studded offense last week.
The Ducks were without defensive end Jordan Burch against Ohio State, but the defense didn’t miss a beat. Oregon recorded three tackles for a loss, a sack and one recovered fumble. A Buckeyes program that is more than capable of running the ball only picked up 141 rushing yards in the top-3 matchup.
Purdue will also need to stop the Ducks on the offensive side of the field to stay as close as they did against Illinois.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel had arguably his best performance as a Duck against Ohio State. Despite taking time to settle into the offense, he’s remained efficient throughout the season.
Gabriel’s offensive line has done a better job at protecting him since the first two games where he was sacked a total of seven times. As a result, Gabriel has 13 passing touchdowns on the year — more than Browne and Card combined — and he has completed over 76 percent of his passes.
The Ducks are favored to win by four scores against the Boilermakers. Anything less than a dominant showing could mean Oregon drops in the rankings. As long as the Ducks stay undefeated, they’ll continue to head toward favorable seeding in a potential College Football Playoff appearance.
Purdue returns home for the fourth time this season. With the home crowd rallying behind the team, the opportunity is there for the Boilermakers to play spoiler on Friday.
