The 10th-ranked Ducks capped an epic football Saturday in Eugene with a 45-30 victory over No. 9 UCLA. The game was attended by the fourth-largest crowd in Autzen Stadium history, 59,962 fans, hundreds of which migrated across the Willamette River after attending ESPN’s “College GameDay” on the University of Oregon campus earlier in the day.
First-year head coach Dan Lanning was on-set during the first hour of “College GameDay.” Later in the day he walked off the field at Autzen with his Ducks at 6-1 overall this season and 4-0 in conference play, after dismantling the only other previously unbeaten team in the Pac-12 entering the day.
Whether it was Michigan State in 2014, Stanford in 2010 or USC on “Fright Night ” in 2009, a handful of teams have entered the Autzen maelstrom with “College GameDay” on hand and left with their top-10 ranking blemished. UCLA became the latest victim Saturday.
“I had a pretty good feeling this was going to be an awesome day the moment I stepped on that quad,” Lanning said. “That place was packed. Our fans brought it from 4 a.m. — or maybe 1 a.m. last night — all the way to the end of the game.”
Bo Nix threw five touchdown passes on the day, two to Troy Franklin during a first half that saw Oregon race out to a 31-13 lead. Bucky Irving became the first UO back to rush for 100 yards in a game this season, finishing with 107, and Steve Stephens IV had seven tackles to lead a UO defense that held the Bruins to their lowest point total of the season.
Nix, who beat the Ducks in his collegiate debut in 2019 to begin an up-and-down three years at Auburn, is now flying high as a senior transfer with the Ducks.
“I don’t think anybody can sit here and watch football right now, watch our quarterback play, and tell me he’s not an elite quarterback,” Lanning said. “This guy’s playing at an extremely high level.”
With former UO coach Chip Kelly on the opposing sideline, the Ducks looked like the team from the vintage era he coached at Oregon from 2009-12. Oregon was 3-for-3 on fourth down Saturday, and the Ducks used an onside kick recovery in the second quarter to break open what began as a back-and-forth game.
Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham conducted a virtuoso performance by his unit, piling up 556 total yards out of a variety of formations. The Ducks had a nearly even…
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