Final: Oregon thumps Minnesota 42-13

FINAL: It wasn’t just the weather that had Friday night feeling like September. 

No. 8 Oregon’s offense moved the ball like it was, too. 

Playing under rainless skies for the first time in the month, Oregon’s offense finally looked multi-dimensional again, as the Oregon Ducks passed for 331 yards and rushed for 179 yards in a 42-13 thumping of Minnesota. 

Coming off downpours against Wisconsin and Iowa, the Ducks took Autzen field Friday night in dry conditions and immediately took advantage of it, with Dante Moore firing off explosive passes to Malik Benson and Kenyon Sadiq on a first-possession scoring drive that got the Ducks a 7-0 early lead that they would never relinquish. 

Moore finished 27-of-30 for 306 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. His 90% completion rate set an Oregon single-game record for efficiency. 

And the Ducks’ running game was just as potent. The Ducks scored four of their touchdowns on the ground, none more impressive than Noah Whittington’s 40-yard second-quarter score, where he appeared to be stopped for a medium gain, slipped out of a five-man gang tackle and scampered to the end zone. 

Whittington finished with 72 yards, Jordon Davison had 57 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Jay Harris found the end zone as well. 

With the win, the Ducks improved to 9-1 on the year, 6-1 in Big Ten play and move on to a match-up with No. 17 USC next Saturday with their playoff hopes fully intact. 

UPDATES

Fourth quarter

11:09: Touchdown No. 6 of the evening for the Ducks comes off a 12-yard touchdown run from Jay Harris. It’s now Oregon 42, Minnesota 13

Third quarter

2:52: Dante Moore had 198 yards, no touchdowns and one interception combined against Iowa and Wisconsin. So far today against Minnesota, Moore has 264 yards and just picked up his second touchdown of the night when he hit Jeremiah McClellan for a 13-yard score.

It’s now Oregon 35, Minnesota 13.

8:17: Minnesota has found the end zone. The Gophers got the ball first to open up the half and used a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ate up more than 6 minutes of clock before Drake Linsey found Javon Tracy for a 10-yard score.

It’s Oregon 28, Minnesota 13

Halftime: Oregon 28, Minnesota 6

Minnesota is playing for field goals. The Ducks, meanwhile, seem to be playing for 50. While the Gophers cut into Oregon’s lead with a 26-yard field goal, the Ducks regrouped, marched 75 yards down the field and added a fourth touchdown of the half with 40 seconds to play when Dante Moore hit Kenyon Sadiq for a 3-yard score.

The Ducks have 331 total yards to Minnesota’s 94, highlighted by Moore, who is 18-of-20 for 200 yards and a touchdown.

9:31 2nd quarter: Noah Whittington just had one of the best runs I’ve ever seen by a Duck.

The Oregon running back took the ball from Minnesota’s 40 and appeared to be stopped for a medium gain as he ran into a pack of five Gophers. 

Or at least it appeared that way, until Whittington slipped out of the gang tackle and made his way to the end zone for the score.

It’s now 21-3 Ducks. 

11:39 2nd quarter:

Oregon’s offense finally touched back down to turf — a fumble by Cooper Perry gave Minnesota great field position early in the second quarter. And while Oregon’s defense largely flexed, the Gophers were able to convert on a 46-yard field goal attempt to bring the score to Oregon 14, Minnesota 3.

End of first quarter: Oregon 14, Minnesota 0

This one has been all Ducks so far. Oregon leads 184-23 in total yardage, has the running and passing game rolling and will start the second quarter with the ball around midfield.

7:23 to play: This is shaping up nicely for the Ducks. After Minnesota’s offense went three-and-out on its first drive, the Ducks went right back to work moving the ball. This time it was a 13-yard Dante Moore run that set up Davison for a beautiful 39-yard touchdown run. Davison got the ball on the left side, took one cut, turned his defender into a top and out ran everyone else to pay dirt.

It’s 14-0 Ducks.

10:48 to play: Hey, that was refreshing. The Ducks got the ball first and the offense, for once, immediately went to work with quarterback Dante Moore completing a pair of explosive passes — 38 yards to Malik Benson and 23 yards to Kenyon Sadiq — to quickly move the Ducks upfield to set up a 1-yard Jordon Davison touchdown run. 

With 10:48 to play in the first, the Ducks lead 7-0. 

Pre-game: Some injury news before we kick off tonight: the Ducks will again be without the services of wide receiver Dakorien Moore, along with fellow wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr.

The Ducks will be down to four scholarship receivers tonight.

Tight end Kenyon Sadiq is listed as questionable but going through warmups. Offensive lineman Alex Harkey is participating during warmups and Gernorris Wilson, who filled in for Harkey last week, is out.

***

Breaking news: It might not rain at Autzen Stadium on Friday.

After back-to-back games in stormy weather, the Ducks were expecting more of the same for tonight’s 6 p.m. kickoff against Minnesota. But the forecast has shifted, with partly sunny skies and only a 10 percent chance of precipitation blessing the Willamette Valley.

And for the first time in a while, you might see two teams air it out — Minnesota arrives at Autzen with 6-foot-5, 230-pound, very-strong-armed quarterback Drake Lindsey.

That is, if the Ducks even want to throw. The running game hasn’t been a bad option lately.

The 261 rushing yards Oregon posted in Saturday’s 18-16 win over Iowa marked the third straight week the Ducks ran for more yards than they got passing. In fact, Oregon has rushed for 2,157 yards this season, outpacing the 2,087 it has through the air.

Even quarterback Dante Moore has joined in on the ground attack, with his 49-yard run against the Hawkeyes standing as the longest play of the game.

“I thought I was moving pretty fast,” Moore said. “But I kept getting slower and slower, so I was like, ‘I’m not going to force anything right here.’ During that moment, coach Lanning is running on the sideline with us, and I was like, ‘If he’s with me, I’m not sure I’m running very fast,’ and was like, ‘I’ll just get out of bounds.’”

Moore got out of bounds, Oregon got a field goal out of the drive and the Ducks eventually got their eighth win of the season.

Here’s what you need to know as Oregon goes for win No. 9 tonight — then make sure to come back to this post for live updates throughout the game.

📺 how to watch or listen 📻

When: 6 p.m. Pacific Time, Nov. 14

Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene

TV Channel: FOX

Radio: KUGN-AM 590 and KUJZ 95.3 in Eugene 

who’s playing

Opponent: Minnesota (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) 

Depth Chart/rosters: Oregon; Minnesota

Minnesota player to watch: Darius Taylor, running back

Minnesota arrives in Eugene looking, on paper, one-dimensional. The Gophers rank 118th nationally in total offense, 96th in scoring and sit dead last in the Big Ten with just 109.8 rushing yards per game.

Their hope, however, is that Taylor is finally getting back up to speed. During his career, Minnesota is 14-6 in games where Taylor records 10 or more touches. When he’s been limited to fewer than that, the Gophers are 6-9 — a split that includes two of their losses this season as the junior has managed a right hamstring injury.

Taylor logged only one snap against Iowa, didn’t play against Michigan State and his post-bye week status remains uncertain against Oregon. But if he’s available, he changes Minnesota’s offense. His 148 yards and a touchdown keyed the Gophers’ surprise win over Nebraska last month and made him the third-fastest running back in program history to reach 2,000 career yards. 

Oregon player to watch: Malik Benson, wide receiver

We’ve talked plenty about the throw.

But Malik Benson was the one who made the catch. In a game where the Oregon Ducks were down to four scholarship receivers, it was the senior transfer from Florida State who secured Dante Moore’s 24-yard heave to put the Ducks in field-goal range against Iowa.

And with the status of Dakorien Moore, Gary Bryant Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq still up in the air heading into tonight’s matchup — and with a Minnesota defense talented enough to pressure the quarterback — it might be Benson who’s called on again to rise up, make a play and steady the offense.

“Malik’s been an unbelievable teammate this entire year. He’s been an explosive playmaker for us,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “He’s done some things really, really well. Thought he blocked well. I thought he had a good game.”

fit check

What to wear: Green

🔖 reads to get ready for the game 🔖

In case you missed any of our coverage earlier this week: 

Another game, another Big Ten bully busted by the Oregon Ducks

A special game from special teams propels Oregon past Iowa

Learn more about Minnesota: 

Why is Gophers football suddenly recruiting JUCO players?

How Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey is becoming clutch

Bye week turned into commitment week for the Gophers

📷 Relive Week 11 📷

🎥 watch the inside look 🎥

🎧 listen to the traffic report 🎧

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