No. 8 Oregon (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) came home after a short week, but appeared unfazed in its 42-13 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) under the Friday night lights at Autzen Stadium.

It was a special night for quarterback Dante Moore, who set a new single-game record for completion percentage by Oregon quarterbacks, completing 90 percent of his passes.

“Gotta give a shoutout to the ten other players with me on the field,” Moore (27-30, 306 passing yards, 2 touchdowns) said. “With them making the spectacular catches, the front five giving me time in the pocket and the running backs opening the run game. Overall, I couldn’t do it without them.”

The Ducks won the coin toss and elected to put its offense on the field immediately. Minnesota thought it had Oregon stopped for a three-and-out, but running back Jordon Davison got just enough to move the chains and keep the drive alive.

Two plays later, Moore loaded up for a 38-yard pass to Malik Benson, which was followed by a 23-yard pass to tight end Kenyon Sadiq to the one-yard line. Sadiq (8 catches, 96 yards, touchdown) missed last week’s game and was listed as questionable again today, but he made his presence felt very early.

The Gophers did well to defend the goal line until third-and-goal, when Davison (7 carries, 57 yards, 2 touchdowns) plowed his way through defenders and across the plane to give Oregon the early 7-0 lead.

“(It’s) certainly a point of emphasis for us,” head coach Dan Lanning said. “We’ve gotta be better at the beginning of games. We knew we wanted to take the ball. They have a history of deferring. We thought we had a chance of being on offense first and we wanted to start fast.”

After a three-and-out from the Minnesota offense, the Ducks took the ball back and went 66 yards on four plays. It ended with a 39-yard run by Davison where he ran through the middle of the defensive line and cut around the safeties to find the end zone for his second score of the game.

“One of the things that impresses me the most with Jordon is his intelligence and his ability to line up and execute the play the right way, with the right mentality,” Lanning said. “He’s a great teammate.”

The Oregon defense forced another punt on the next drive, but on the first play of the second quarter, the Ducks tried a hook-and-lateral play that resulted in wide receiver Cooper Perry pitching the ball behind Dierre Hill Jr. — Minnesota recovered the live ball in Oregon territory.

On third-and-10, the Gophers thought they had the ball down to the one-yard line, but a replay review determined the pass was incomplete, and Minnesota settled for a 46-yard field goal.

When Oregon got the ball back, running back Noah Whittington (8 carries, 72 yards, touchdown) took the ball at the 40-yard line. He appeared to be down after gaining about five yards when he was swarmed by Minnesota defenders, but an extra push from his offensive line allowed him to break free and take it to the house. He bobbled the ball near the goal line, but an official review said he recovered it in the endzone.

The Gophers’ next drive was aided by two pass interference penalties against Oregon. Once they got to the red zone, the defense stood strong and forced another Minnesota field goal.

“That’s something we harp on a lot in our defensive unit,” linebacker Teitium Tuioti said. “We’ve gotta be better in the red area, and I think our mentality this week was different in understanding we needed to do more.”

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, the Ducks got the ball back at their own 25-yard line and marched straight down the field. Moore relied on his tight ends on that drive, with Sadiq and Jamari Johnson (4 catches, 57 yards) each recording over 20 receiving yards. 

On second-and-7 from the 15-yard line, Sadiq thought he escaped a tackle and scored, but a replay review confirmed he was down at the 3-yard line. He did not flinch, and caught a pass in the corner of the end zone on the next play to push Oregon’s lead to 28-6 going into halftime.

“There’s a lot of poise and confidence in our guys,” Lanning said. “We’ve seen guys execute at a really high level in those moments. Those high pressure moments is when you have to be your best and they did a good job of that tonight.”

Minnesota, though, came out of the locker room ready. It marched 80 yards down the field on 10 plays. Facing third down in the red zone for the third time, the Gophers finally found the end zone for their first touchdown of the game.

On Oregon’s first drive of the half, the Gophers nearly held it to a field goal, but on third-and-13 at the Minnesota 30, Moore delivered a perfect throw as he was hit to Sadiq, who made the catch on a knee for a first down.

“As a quarterback, you want to make the pass as easy as possible for your receivers and tight ends,” Moore said. “But sometimes they’ve gotta save the day for you too. Kenyon always does a great job making sure he can get the ball in the air. These guys do a great job going to get the ball.”

Two plays later, a pass to Jeremiah McClellan (3 catches, 36 yards, touchdown) on the edge of the end zone took Minnesota’s touchdown right back. It took another replay review — his foot dragged on the sideline, and he bobbled the ball — but that score, too, was confirmed.

The next drive for the Gophers began with what appeared to be a three-and-out, but they went for it on fourth-and-one and converted. 

Oregon’s defense was unfazed. An intentional grounding penalty followed by a sack from Teitum Tuioti pinned Minnesota back 31 more yards and forced a punt to open the fourth quarter.

The Ducks’ offense still had their foot on the gas pedal. Taking over at the 30-yard line, they marched down the field again in seven plays. It was another tight end-heavy drive with Johnson and Roger Saleapaga each making catches for big gains. It ended on a 12-yard touchdown run by Jay Harris to seal the game.

Oregon returns to Autzen Stadium for its final home game of the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 22 when it hosts the No. 17 USC Trojans.