The Inside Story of Oregon’s Epic March to the Big Ten Championship in Season One
FRONT COVER: The Oregon Ducks, in their first season in a new conference, celebrate their 45–37 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 7, 2024.
ROBERT GODDIN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Copyright © 2025 by The Register-Guard All Rights Reserved • ISBN: 978-1-63846-137-1
Gene Myers, Jesse Sowa and Jonathan Williams
Alec Dietz and Chris Hansen
Ben Lonergan and Chris Pietsch
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.
Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. • www.pediment.com Printed in Canada.
This book is an unofficial account of the Oregon Ducks' 2024 season and is not endorsed by the University of Oregon or the NCAA.
VS. IDAHO W 24–14
BY CHRIS HANSEN • PUBLISHED AUG. 31, 2024
The stage was set Saturday for Oregon to make a bang in its Big Ten Conference debut, with a Football Championship Subdivision team in Autzen Stadium for the No. 3 Ducks’ anticipated season opener.
But a showcase of offensive weaponry and big-play potential never materialized for Oregon in its 24–14 victory against Idaho in what was a one-touchdown game until late in the fourth quarter.
“I think ultimately Dillon operated within the offense well,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “I thought he understood
“We gotta give a lot of credit to Idaho. They played really a good game. They didn’t give us anything for free.”
DAN LANNING
“It was strenuous when it didn’t have to be,” said quarterback Dillon Gabriel, whose first game as a Duck looked spectacular on the stat sheet but less so in the final score.
Gabriel was 41-for-49 passing for 380 yards and two touchdowns — both to wide receiver Tez Johnson — though the sixthyear senior took very few deep shots down the field and was also sacked three times.
what we were trying to accomplish and made some good decisions. I think we have to figure out how to eliminate some of the pressure that showed up and some of the sacks that showed up.”
Both coach and quarterback lamented the offense’s inability to capitalize on opportunities as well as several pre-snap mistakes that hindered drives.
The Ducks went 1-for-3 on fourth-down attempts, missing on their first two when running back Jordan James was stuffed on a run play on a fourth-and-1, and another when tight end Kenyon Sadiq was stopped on a fake punt try. Right tackle Ajani Cornelius was flagged twice for illegal formation and left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and Iapani Laloulu had false-start penalties.
“Obviously it was good to have a win but we have to go back to the (doctor) on Monday and fix our mistakes,” said Johnson, who had 12 catches for 81 yards, in a reference to returning to practice. “Never gonna be mad about a win. A win is a win, but we know this is not our standard and we’re gonna try our best to uphold that standard.”
Lanning had a similar take.
“Different than what we thought it might look like,” he said. “On the same note, we gotta give a lot of credit to Idaho. They
OPPOSITE: In his Oregon debut, lineman Derrick Harmon records a strip sack of Idaho’s Jack Layne late in the fourth quarter. A transfer from Michigan State, Harmon finished with five tackles, 1½ sacks and a forced fumble. BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
played really a good game. They didn’t give us anything for free.”
Defensively, the Ducks held the Vandals to 217 yards, 10 first downs and just 2-for-12 on third down.
But there were also some breakdowns on Idaho’s two scoring drives, including leaving tight end Jake Cox alone and open
for a 36-yard touchdown catch.
“I think there’s some really good positives,” Lanning said. “I think there’s also some growth moments there. We were poor against the screen sometimes, some of our situational play that we knew would come up did and we didn’t execute properly in those situations.”
Still, Lanning said, the Ducks are 1–0 to start the season, even if there are several areas that need improvement.
“We’re always going to celebrate a victory,” he said. “But there’s some opportunities for us to get better for sure.”
OPPOSITE: Senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher, in his third career start, makes a sure-handed tackle of Idaho wide receiver Mark Hamper. A product of South Eugene High School, Boettcher also was a sure-handed outfielder for Oregon, earning a place on the ABCA/ Rawlings Gold Glove Team after an errorless season. Against the Vandals, Boettcher and Derrick Harmon were the leading tacklers with five. BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
LEFT: Yes, Ducks can fly! Sometimes they just need a little assistance. Offensive lineman Marcus Harper II, at 305 pounds, lifts wide receiver Tez Johnson, at 165 pounds, after Johnson’s 12-yard touchdown catch with 5:36 left in the game. The TD restored a 10-point lead that Idaho had sliced to three a few minutes earlier. In the first quarter, Johnson scored on a 7-yard pass for the season’s first points. BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
RIGHT: Coach Dan Lanning rallies the troops during a tougher-thanexpected opener against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. Nonetheless, the Ducks won their home opener for the 20th straight season, Lanning raised his record at Autzen Stadium to 13–1 and Oregon raised its all-time record against Idaho to 53–3–4.
BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
OPPOSITE: Running back Noah Whittington, a redshirt junior, takes flight once again as an Oregon Duck. His 2023 season ended with a torn ACL in the fourth game. In his return, his 18 touches — 14 carries for 33 yards and four catches for 32 yards — led the Ducks (discounting the quarterback and the center).
BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
BY ALEC DIETZ • PUBLISHED SEPT. 14, 2024
Behind a balanced offensive attack, Oregon defeated in-state rival Oregon State at Reser Stadium Saturday 49–14.
The Ducks (3–0) ran for 240 yards as a team, averaging 7.5 yards per carry, while Dillon Gabriel was his usual efficient self, completing 20 of his 24 passes for 291 yards and two scores in the win.
On defense, Oregon stymied the Beavers (2–1) after the halftime break, holding OSU to 91 total yards and no points in the second half.
With the win, the Ducks head into their first bye week with an unblemished record, and fresh off easily their most
BY THE NUMBERS
impressive win of the season against an in-state rival on the road.
Here are four takeaways from the dominant win.
Oregon offense makes it look easy behind strong run game
Oregon coach Dan Lanning specifically pointed to the Ducks’ run game after a lethargic win against Idaho in Week 1 as an area Oregon needed to improve.
Two weeks later against the Beavers, Oregon’s run game arrived in earnest.
The Ducks averaged a whopping 7.5 yards per carry after an abysmal 2.9 yards per carry against the FCS Vandals two weeks ago at Autzen Stadium. Oregon was
consistently ahead of the chains, never punted and scored at will.
“We weren’t battling negative plays,” Lanning said. “When you’re able to stay on schedule, I think we can be really dynamic. I thought (offensive coordinator) Will (Stein) called an unbelievable game, I thought the offensive staff made good adjustments. Our players were poised and focused on the next play.”
The Ducks committed just three penalties and rarely had double-digit yardage to gain in the win, as opposed to an offense that consistently got in its own way in wins against Idaho and Boise State.
Jordan James ran for 86 yards on just 12 carries with a pair of scores, and backup
Noah Whittington had seven carries for 64 yards and a score. To add more dimension to their game, Gabriel kept the ball on a speed option and took it 54 yards to the house in the first half.
When all was said and done, Oregon rushed for 240 yards and four scores.
Offensive line finally gets in rhythm with consistent group
Going together with a strong run game, Oregon’s offensive line finally played up to the lofty standard previous groups set over the years.
Gabriel wasn’t sacked and admitted he wasn’t touched for the entire game after getting sacked seven times between the
OPPOSITE: Oregon’s Jordan James finds room to maneuver en route to an 86-yard rushing day. James, a junior, scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter and a 1-yard run in the third quarter. BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
RIGHT: David McLaren and Mark West play cornhole as they tailgate before the annual rivalry game on Sept. 14 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.
ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
TOP FAR RIGHT: A “duck whacker” hangs on an Oregon State tailgate before the big game. The Ducks hadn’t been whacked by the Beavers since 2022. Oregon leads the series 68–51–10. ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
BOTTOM FAR RIGHT: Angela and Nana Meekisho come from a house divided: She roots for the Ducks, he roots for the Beavers.
ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
OPPOSITE LEFT: Oregon State students fire up before the game at Reser Stadium. CRAIG STROBECK / IMAGN IMAGES
OPPOSITE RIGHT: Oregon’s marching band plays on from the far upper reaches of Reser Stadium.
CRAIG STROBECK / IMAGN IMAGES
Idaho and Boise State games.
“I do think the (protection) was good all day,” Gabriel said. “I don’t think I was touched. I can’t even explain how proud I am of them. I like that they continue to fight. Those are five guys you want to go to battle with. Or six or seven guys. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”
The Ducks went with a consistent group rather than rotating along the interior
of their line as they did against Boise State. Starting from left to right were Josh Conerly Jr., Nishad Strother, Iapani Laloulu, Marcus Harper II and Ajani Cornelius.
“It’s kind of natural for me,” said Laloulu, who played exclusively at center. “Since the beginning of winter and spring I was playing center. When coach (A’lique) Terry told me I was going to play center
this week, nothing changed … I took that initiative and let them know I was going to be a leader for the team.”
After up-and-down first half, Oregon defense stymies Beaver run game in second half
After one half, despite dominating in aspects, the Ducks led Oregon State 22–14. The Beavers were nearly tripling
the Ducks in time of possession and ran twice as many plays. OSU had over 100 yards on the ground and converted 6 of 9 third-down attempts to score on two drives that lasted nearly seven minutes apiece.
In the second half, the Ducks completely shut the Beavers down.
Oregon State had 15 rushing yards in the second half and just 91 total yards.
The Beavers were 1-for-6 on third-down plays and were held off the scoreboard.
The Ducks said the biggest adjustment was containing Oregon State’s screen game, then stopping the run and keeping the Beavers behind the sticks.
“We came in at the half and made a couple of adjustments when it came to coverages,” Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “Honestly, it was just the
mindset. That mindset in the second half we knew we had to finish, and we did.”
Boettcher was a huge reason the Ducks took that step, totaling a team-high 10 tackles and two pass breakups at inside linebacker. Sophomore edge rusher Teitum Tuioti had seven tackles with two tackles for loss.
Boettcher and Tuioti graduated from high schools in the Eugene area, though
BY CHRIS HANSEN • PUBLISHED OCT.
12,
2024
Dan Lanning entered the postgame press room looking like a man who had just been joyfully and chaotically mobbed by tens of thousands of happy customers — smiling, sweaty and with a gleam in his eye.
“Anybody got a heart rate monitor?” he asked.
It was that kind of game and that kind of moment for Oregon football and its third-year coach, who got the biggest win of his Ducks career on Saturday when No. 3 Oregon knocked off No. 2 Ohio State
32–31, in front of 60,129 — the largest crowd to ever fill Autzen Stadium — many of whom stormed the field after the victory was secure.
And that took until the very final play, as the Ducks (6–0, 3–0 Big Ten) and Buckeyes (5–1, 2–1) traded the lead seven times, including four instances in the second half and three in the fourth quarter alone.
The winning points came with 1 minute, 47 seconds to play on a 19-yard field goal by Atticus Sappington.
“What an unbelievable atmosphere
tonight,” Lanning said. “We talked all week with our players about taking jabs. It’s not about throwing haymakers.
“This game is such an emotional game, it’s such an impactful game and in moments like this when you want to be filled with complete joy, relief is one of the biggest feelings you feel.”
The scene on the field after the game — the first between top-5 teams in stadium history — was wild, said a handful of Oregon players, even for someone such as cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, who was with Washington a season ago when the
Huskies played in the College Football Playoff championship game.
“To be a part of win like this is really special,” Muhammad said. “It’s kind of something you dream about. It’s kind of something you write down at the beginning of the year when you’re doing your goals. … Being a part of a win like this with this team is special.”
Ohio State was the highest-ranked team Oregon has ever defeated, matching the win against No. 2 Florida State in the 2015 Rose Bowl.
“It was a lot of fun,” said quarterback BY THE NUMBERS
OPPOSITE: Quarterback Dillon Gabriel hugs tight end Terrance Ferguson in the chaotic moments after the Ducks turned back Ohio State and fans stormed the field at Autzen Stadium. CHRIS PIETSCH / THE REGISTER-GUARD
Dillon Gabriel, who was 23-for-34 passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a 27-yard score. “Winning is fun, and there is a lot of joy in winning, to be frank with you. We know this is a
step for us in the right direction and a big win because we played a great team. …
We’re gonna enjoy it. Tomorrow, we got recovery circuit, we gotta wake up, just like everyone. The sun rises tomorrow and
you gotta go earn it. That’s the beauty of the game we play.”
Gabriel said he was on the “edge of his seat” watching from the sidelines during the Buckeyes’ final drive as they
attempted to get into field-goal position in the final minute. They actually did, but were knocked back from the Oregon 28 to the 43 on an offensive pass interference penalty. Three plays later, Ohio State
quarterback Will Howard found himself scrambling in the middle of the field and sliding as time ran out.
“You talk about a heavyweight fight,” Lanning said. “It was a heavyweight fight,
this game. … When you play a really good team, you’re gonna have to be able to battle in tight games like this. We played aggressive tonight, we played to win the game and our guys went out there and
OPPOSITE LEFT: Ohio State fan Big Nut takes a bite out of a toy duck during the game against Oregon at Autzen Stadium. CHRIS PIETSCH / THE REGISTER-GUARD
OPPOSITE RIGHT: Oregon fans cheer on their Ducks as part of the largest crowd ever at Autzen Stadium — 60,129 loud and strong.
BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
LEFT: Oregon’s Jordan James battles for every inch against Ohio State’s stout defense. James rushed 23 times for 115 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter for the Ducks’ first points.
BEN LONERGAN / THE REGISTER-GUARD
BY ALEC DIETZ • PUBLISHED NOV. 9, 2024
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s record-breaking season in Eugene continued against Maryland.
The sixth-year quarterback tossed his second touchdown pass of the game to reserve lineman Gernorris Wilson with 7:48 left in the third quarter to set the all-time NCAA record for touchdowns responsible for with 179. The record of 178 total touchdowns was previously held by Houston’s Case Keenum, who played from 2007–11.
After a fake punt helped drive all the way to the goal line, Oregon offensive
coordinator Will Stein dialed up a trick play, with Wilson lining up at tight end in a jumbo package and leaking out for a 3-yard touchdown catch. It gave the Ducks a 29–10 lead midway through the third quarter.
To reach 179 total TDs, Gabriel accumulated 146 throwing, 32 rushing and one receiving. Keenum reached 178 with 155 passing and 23 rushing. How Gabriel fared at his stops: Central Florida — 70 passing, eight rushing, one receiving. Oklahoma —55 passing, 18 rushing. Oregon — 21 passing, six rushing.
OPPOSITE: Dillon Gabriel and Dan Lanning celebrate a dominant victory and an incredible week. Oregon was ranked No. 1 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. The rest of the top 10: Ohio State, Georgia, Miami (Florida), Texas, Penn State, Tennessee, Indiana, BYU and Notre Dame. CHRIS PIETSCH / THE REGISTER-GUARD
ABOVE: Gabriel walks off with another NCAA record. TROY WAYRYNEN / IMAGN IMAGES
BY ALEC DIETZ • PUBLISHED DEC. 7 2024
In its first season in the Big Ten, the No. 1 Oregon football team ran the table through the regular season, finishing a perfect 12–0, and just won the conference championship game over No. 3 Penn State Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium 45–37.
The Ducks (13–0, 9–0 Big Ten) will now almost undoubtedly earn the No. 1 overall
Big Ten championship MVP, hauling in 11 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Kenyon Sadiq had two catches for 30 yards, with both receptions resulting in scores.
Saturday night, the Ducks’ offense returned the favor.
With the defense getting gashed for 518 yards, including 292 on the ground, the Oregon offense made every timely play it needed to beat the Nittany Lions, racking up 466 total yards and 183 on the ground.
“The belief in our team throughout the game, it never wavered.”
DAN LANNING
seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff and a trip to the Rose Bowl for the playoff quarterfinals on New Year’s Day.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel was masterful, completing 22 of 32 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns against one of the best defenses in college football.
Jordan James and Noah Whittington combined for 159 rushing yards on 35 carries, with James scoring twice.
Receiver Tez Johnson was named the
With further postseason play on the horizon, here are three takeaways from Oregon’s thrilling win over Penn State.
Oregon football offense picks up the defense in barnburner
Big Ten championship
Three weeks ago, it was the Oregon defense that picked up a lackluster offense in a 16–13 slugfest win over Wisconsin on the road.
“The belief in our team throughout the game, it never wavered,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said.
“We have a bunch of guys in there that love each other and worked their tails off tonight to come out on the other side of victory.”
Every time Penn State cut the game to a single score, the Oregon offense responded. The Nittany Lions cut it to eight points to open the fourth quarter on a drive that took just over two minutes and went 97 yards, but Oregon responded with a near-seven-minute drive that resulted in a touchdown and took
OPPOSITE: Oregon coach Dan Lanning practices what coaches preach with the Stagg Championship Trophy: Always keep a good grip on the football. His Ducks celebrated while decked out in the latest fashion trend for Big Ten champions. JORDAN PRATHER / IMAGN IMAGES
we’ve got to fix up and be ready for a couple weeks from now.”
Oregon football checks another box, but still won’t look ahead to ultimate goal
Though the Ducks inched a bit closer to their ultimate goal of winning a national championship, Lanning was insistent during his postgame press conference that the only game that matters is the next one.
After dispatching Penn State to win a Big Ten title, the Rose Bowl, in all likelihood, is next.
“I’m worried about tomorrow, I’m worried the next day, the next play,” Lanning said. “I don’t think it’s any secret what this team wants to accomplish, but you don’t get there by just looking at it. It takes work. I’m thinking right now, how can we improve and get better? And there’s a lot more we can grow from in that game in all phases. That’s where
my focus is at. I think when you focus on the process, the rest takes care of itself.”
The Ducks will find out their official seeding at 9 a.m. Sunday during the College Football Playoff announcement show on ESPN, including who they will potentially play in the quarterfinals on New Year’s Day.
OPPOSITE: Despite a stout defense, Penn State struggles to contain Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel. He was sacked only once while completing 22 of 32 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed six times for 17 yards.
GRACE
HOLLARS / USA TODAY NETWORK
LEFT: With one last lunge, wide receiver Tez Johnson scores on a 48-yard pass with 7:36 left in the third quarter. It gave the Ducks a 38–24 lead. Johnson won MVP honors by catching 11 passes for 181 yards. ROBERT GODDIN / IMAGN IMAGES