The No. 1 Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) continued their rampage through the Big Ten in their inaugural season on Saturday, dismantling Maryland (4-5, 1-5 Big Ten) 39-18 in front of their home fans.
A somewhat sloppy, penalty-filled contest was won on the backs of defensive turnovers and some crafty trick plays.
Maryland won the coin toss and elected to put its offense out right away. The Oregon defense was having none of it and forced a 3-and-out, but Maryland caught a break when the Ducks’ special team unit was called for roughing the kicker to keep the drive alive. The Terrapins marched down the field, but the Ducks came up with a redzone stop to hold Maryland to a 37-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Oregon offense had a slow start, going 3-and-out on its first possession, but the defense held its ground. The Ducks’ offense was ready to go on the next drive, covering 92 yards on 14 plays including a 4th-down conversion at the 40-yard line. It ended on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jordan James.
“We were calling the plays we normally call,” head coach Dan Lanning said about the first drive. “They just didn’t work.” He didn’t seem overly concerned about the slow start.
With the Ducks’ leading receiver — Tez Johnson — out, it was up to other guys like Evan Stewart to step up. Stewart finished the game with 55 receiving yards and a touchdown.
“I’ll definitely have to look back at it and see how I can help [the depleted receiving room] and how we can help each other,” Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel said.
Gabriel finished with 183 passing yards on 23/34 attempts. He threw for a trio of touchdown passes and had an impressive passer rating of 142. He also broke the NCAA passing touchdown record with his 139th touchdown pass.
On the next drive, Maryland was facing 3rd-and-6 at the Oregon 38-yard line when Jordan Burch came up with a strip sack, leading to a 62-yard scoop-and-score from Brandon Johnson. A huge, momentum-building moment handed the Ducks a 14-3 lead.
With just over three minutes remaining in the first half and the help of three costly penalties against the Ducks’ defense, the Terrapins finally scored their first touchdown of the game. The Autzen crowd made its displeasures heard on a controversial pass interference call in the endzone that put the ball at the 2-yard line.
Again, Oregon had an answer.
The Ducks’ offense took the field and marched 75 yards on 12 plays. It ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Terrance Ferguson on 3rd-and-goal to take a 21-10 lead into halftime.
“I think there’s a little bit to [the team’s mindset],” Dillon Gabriel said. “And I think that when there is a pass interference call, and maybe you don’t necessarily agree with it, those are situations where you gotta have it, and put a drive together.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ferguson said of his first touchdown reception from Gabriel on the year. “It’s been a drought for the tight end room, and for us to finally connect on a touchdown was an amazing experience. Dillon is doing stuff at an elite level, so to be a part of that … it was really nice to finally connect with Dillon in a game for a touchdown.”
The third quarter has been the worst quarter for the Ducks this season, which remained true when they went 3-and-out to start the second half. They appeared to have the same fate on their second drive, but a fake punt allowed Jordan Burch to run for 36 yards and give the offense a huge momentum boost. With the help of two penalties against Maryland, five plays later, a 3-yard pass to offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson put the Ducks back in the endzone. Then, another lineman, Josh Conerly, took a direct snap and ran it in for a two-point conversion to go ahead 29-10.
“We’ve been running that play for a minute now,” Wilson said, “I’ve had a lot of time to get ready and get things done, but I didn’t really believe it was going to actually happen … so I was happy to get the experience.”
“That’s been rolled up for about three weeks,” Conerly said regarding his two-point conversion, “So a lot of practice on it … It went how it went in practice.”
Maryland got within field goal range on its next drive, but opted to go for it on 4th-and-9. The defense stepped up once again for Oregon and the Ducks got the ball back at their own 25-yard line. On the other end, it was Oregon’s turn to go for it in four-down territory, but Gabirel’s pass went wide and the Ducks too were stopped short.
On the next drive, the Terrapins finally converted on 4th-and-2 in the redzone, and four plays later found the endzone. A roughing-the-passer penalty on the touchdown pass put Maryland in a great position to pick up a two-point conversion and cut the deficit to 11.
Oregon did not score on the next drive, but on the third play of Maryland’s next drive, an interception by Tysheem Johnson put the Ducks right back in the redzone. They were held to a field goal, but Jestin Jacobs got the next pick on the next possession for the Ducks’ defense. This time, they did find the end zone one more time five plays later on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Stewart.
“I always say ‘turnovers come in bunches’,” Lanning said. “They came in bunches tonight.”
The two late turnovers put Oregon’s 10th win on ice. The Ducks will stay unbeaten for their next game in Madison, Wisconsin against the Badgers on Nov. 17. Kickoff is set for 4:30 PST.
