The Oregon Ducks are here. The No. 3 Oregon Ducks have beaten No. 2 Ohio State.
What a moment for Oregon. What a moment for Dan Lanning. What a moment for the Big Ten. A round of applause for an incredible game.
With one game, Oregon has announced that they have arrived on a national level. Now in the Big Ten Conference, Oregon has proven that they can hang with the big boys, that they can win the close games, that they can generate a comeback against elite competition, and that they should be firmly in the conversation of teams vying for the National Championship. And they did it all without their best defensive player, Jordan Burch .
This game was billed as a heavyweight fight, and it was. It was weird, it took as many weird turns as a football game could take. Dan Lanning knew Ohio State's ground attack was a key to this game, but Oregon's defense, other than one huge run to TreVeyon Henderson, was able to stand tall.
Henderson's long run was 53 yards. Outside of that one run, he and Quinshon Judkins combined for 57 rushing yards on 20 attempts – 2.85 yards per carry.
That is elite defensive play.
"In moments like this, where you want to be filled with complete joy, the relief is was one of the biggest feelings," head coach Dan Lanning said after the game. "You feel it because of how hard your guys worked, how bad you know they wanted it, but it's never about the team that wants it the most. It's never about the team that just has great emotion. It's about the team that executes. So you know, I'm filled with grace, and I'm really proud of our guys, but I'm also really excited to figure out what we can go attack and improve, because the team we are today, October 12th, is not going to be the same team we are in December."
It was a monumental performance in a monumental moment.
"We talked about a heavyweight fight, right? A heavyweight fight in this game, and we knew it could go every round, and it was a back and forth. When you play a really good team, you have to be able to battle in tight games like this, and there's some decisions that could go one way or the other that I'm sure people have thoughts on, but we played aggressive tonight. We played to win the game, and our guys went out there and executed in critical moments. So again, I can't say enough great things about that team that we just played, that's an elite football team that we just played. They're really, really talented. They don't have weaknesses, but our guys did just enough tonight to be able to edge it out," Lanning said.
It was a monster performance. Ohio State hadn't allowed a 100+ yard rusher or receiver yet this season, and Oregon had one of each. Jordan James finished with 115 rushing yards, Evan Stewart with 149 receiving yards, and the Ducks didn't turn the ball over once.
This team just earned every ounce of praise that they receive, and will keep building from this outstanding performance, as Lanning said.
You know what they say out there in Oregon – the grass is damn green in Eugene.
Related: Oregon Ducks preparing for star-studded recruit visits this weekend for crucial Big Ten clash against Ohio State
Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on X @JonHelmkamp , as well as follow our main page @AtoZSportsNFL for all the latest news.
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