So much for those critics who doubted whether or not the Oregon Ducks could play in the Big Ten.
The Ducks defense looked every bit as good as any traditional Big Ten defense as Oregon battered Michigan State 31-10. They were on the verge of a shut out, but the Spartans took advantage of the Ducks’ twos and threes to muster up a few points late.
But it was way too little and much too late as Oregon scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-0 halftime lead and the Ducks cruised from there.
It wasn’t exactly quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s best night as he was 20-of-32 for 257 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Those picks occurred in the end zone and stopped would-be touchdowns or the score would have been much worse.
On this night, at least offensively, it was Jordan James’ legs and the line’s strength that won the night.
The offensive line was every bit as physical as it needed to be and James had 166 yards on the ground with a touchdown, 150 coming in the first half.
The defense was Michigan State’s worst nightmare as the Ducks didn’t let quarterback Aidan Chiles do any damage with his running abilities.
The Spartan’s best scoring opportunity in the first half came on their opening possession as the Spartans had a 1st-and-goal from the one. But Chiles was forced to cough the ball up and the Ducks recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
After that, against the Duck starters, the Spartans crossed the 50-yard line just once.
Tez Johnson led the receivers with 10 more catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. Evan Stewart had just two catches, but one of those was a nice grab in the end zone where he kept his foot in bounds.
It was 24-0 at that point in the third quarter and it might as well have been 48-0 with the way the Duck defenders were playing. They had five sacks and a force fumble.
The game became a bit chippy in the first quarter after Gabriel took a late hit that knocked him out for a play. It was also chippy as no flag was thrown on the play. That might have woke up the Ducks on that possession as it was Gabriel himself who put the Ducks on the board for the first time with a nine-yard run.
UP NEXT
Oregon can celebrate this win for a day or even less as its biggest test of the season will come to Eugene next weekend.
No. 3 Ohio State will come to Autzen Stadium next Saturday for a 4:30 pm PT kickoff that will be televised nationally on NBC.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS; Oregon 31, Michigan State 10