“It never hurts when somebody pours gasoline on the fire,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said after his team’s big win in Week 2. 

Lanning referred to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy’s comments regarding Oregon’s program from earlier this week. It was made much sweeter when the No. 6 Ducks blew out the Oklahoma State Cowboys 69-3 in what became the program’s worst loss of all time. 

The Ducks dominated the run game and finished with five rushing touchdowns and 317 rushing yards. They also fired passes at will, finishing with 319 passing yards between two quarterbacks — starting quarterback Dante More posted a stellar 266 yards and three touchdowns in his second start as a Duck.

“I told our team before the game right before the game that you know it never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass,” Lanning said. 

Oregon kicked off its season with a 59-13 win against the Montana State University Bobcats while Oklahoma State opened up its season with a 27-7 win against University of Tennessee-Martin. The Cowboys starting quarterback Hauss Hejny suffered a broken foot in the matchup opening up the starting job for redshirt freshman Zane Flores.

The Ducks started off the game hot with a 59-yard rushing touchdown by Noah Whittington on the second snap of the game. Whittington plowed through the Cowboys defensive line and had nothing but green in front of him on his way to the endzone.

Oregon’s defense held the Cowboys to four rushing yards in their first drive forcing a punt. Its dominance on defense quickly became a theme of the contest. 

Oregon continued its efficient offense with a 65-yard touchdown pass to freshman Dakorien Moore on its next play from scrimmage.  Moore juked past a defender and broke a tackle to make it into the endzone.

“Dakorien is a great route runner,” Dante Moore said. “The corner just had his eyes on the backfield and Dakorien made sure that he caught the ball he had to make a play with the ball in his hands and he scored.”

The Ducks initially struggled to push further up field in their third drive, and eventually gave up the ball for the first time this season after going for it on fourth and four near midfield. 

Freshman running back Dierre Hill Jr. scored on a 19-yard run on the following possession, however, and the Ducks continued rolling. 

Oklahoma State was forced to punt three times in its first three drives. The Cowboys offense was finally able to break through to the red zone with a 35-yard pass to Christian Fitzpatrick before the end of the first quarter. 

The Cowboys opened up the second quarter by driving further into the red zone before being stuffed at the 6-yard  line which brought on the field goal unit for their first and only score of the game.

Moore threw a deep touchdown pass to Malik Benson for 42 yards to continue the onslaught of scoring. Benson found space just behind Oklahoma State’s safeties on a deep post route that led the senior receiver into the endzone to extend the Oregon lead to 27-3. 

“With Malik’s speed, he can run past everybody,” Dante Moore said. “Give him a chance and he’s been doing that since he was at Alabama, he’s been running that route for a long time.”

The Cowboys were not prepared for the raucous atmosphere of Autzen Stadium and gave up five false start penalties in the game, all of which occurred in the first half.

Moore scored his second touchdown of the game via a 25-yard end around run, speeding past multiple defensive backs before reaching over the pylon for the score. The Cowboys secondary was no match for the Oregon freshman’s sheer speed and elusiveness in open play. 

Jayden Limar pushed through a swarm of Cowboys and punched in his first touchdown of the game to end the first half.

The Ducks opened up the second half by storming down the field and scoring on a wide open 11-yard reception by Gary Bryant Jr. 

In the third quarter, Lanning brought out backup quarterback Luke Moga to take over for Moore. Moga threw two passes for 53 yards including a 51-yard pass to Jeremiah McClellan.

The Ducks defense added to the scoring in the third quarter with two pick-sixes by linebacker Jerry Mixon and safety Peyton Woodyard.

“I kind of told Jerry before the game ‘you owe me one’ because he’s a ball hawk player on defense,” Moore said. “(Woodyard) had the same situation as him being down and catching that pick.”

Neither team was able to put up points in the fourth quarter and Oregon was able to cruise the rest of the way into its second win of the season.

“We want to be a team that can beat you by air and by land and that showed today,” Lanning said. 

Next week the Oregon Ducks take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, IL on September 13 at 9 a.m. PST.