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The Oregon Ducks’ Path to Becoming the Number 1 Football Team in the Nation
By: Grady Little
Date: 01/17/25
The Oregon Ducks football team had a slow start to the 2024 season, on August 31st they barely beat the Idaho Vandals, 14 to 24. However, it turned out to be a good game for Dillon Gabriel, the starting quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. He threw for 380 total yards from scrimmage (YDS), 2 touchdowns (TD) and he also went 41/49 on his passes. Jordan James (a running back for Oregon) led the game in rushing yards picking up 15 carries (CAR), 95 YDS, and 1 TD.
Oregon’s head coach, Dan Lanning’s thoughts on Week 1:"It was different than we thought it might look like, but on the same note, we’ve got to give a lot of credit to Idaho," Lanning said to start his press conference, "They played a really good game. They didn’t give us anything for free. There were a lot of learning moments for us, so I’m excited to watch the film and get back to work because there’s certainly some things we can clean up.”
Week 7
Ohio State vs. Oregon
College Gameday was in town in Week 7 of the college football season and this was one of the biggest games ever at Autzen Stadium. Ohio State was projected to win with a 61.8% chance of winning according to ESPN. This was a very close game, Oregon only beating Ohio State by one point. Head coach, Dan Lanning had managed to outsmart the rules, he put an extra player in so there were 13 players on the field, he sacrificed 5 YDS for 4 seconds. Oregon led the game in passing with 341 YDS, Rushing with 115 YDS and Receiving with 149 YDS. At one point, wide receiver Traeshon Holden got ejected for spitting on Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun. Then quarterback Will Howerd (Ohio State) ran the ball and ran out the clock. In the end, number 3 ranked Oregon beat number 2 Ohio State 32 to 31.
Week 12
Oregon Ducks vs. Washington Huskies
In this game, Oregon played with a chip on their shoulder, they had lost the last 2 years to their rivals, the Washington Huskies. If the Ducks won this game they would be 12-0 the only undefeated team. In the first quarter of the game, the score was 7 to 3, Oregon was in the lead. Before halftime the score was 27 to 14 and by the end of the third quarter Oregon led 34 to 14. The final score of the game was 49 to 21, the Ducks had won! The Oregon Ducks broke the two year losing streak to their rivals. The all-time record between them was now 63 to 48, Washington still leading in the amount of wins.
Oregon led the game in all aspects, with 237 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 222 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. The Ducks also led the game in receiving with 236 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Ducks were also successful on the defensive line with 10 sacks, 73 total tackles and 16 tackles for a loss.
Week 14
The Oregon Ducks vs Penn State
When the Oregon Ducks played Penn State on December 7, 2024, ESPN had Penn State winning with a 52.9% chance. This is one of the only times the Ducks were projected to lose. The first quarter started close and the score was 10 to 14, with the Ducks in the lead. In the second quarter the score was 24 to 31. The Ducks were still winning. By the fourth quarter, the score was 24 to 38, the Ducks won! The Ducks came out with a perfect regular season of 13-0. This game was big because it was their first year in the BIG 10 and they had won the conference!
Similar to the other games, Oregon led in passing with 283 yards and got in the endzone 4 times; those stats were put up by Dillon Gabriel. Penn State led the game in rushing with 14 CAR, 124 yards and 1 TD and those stats were put up by Kaytron Allen. Oregon led the game in receiving with 181 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown from wide receiver Tez Johnson.
The Rose Bowl
Oregon Ducks vs Ohio State
Ohio State wanted to get there and get back when they lost to Oregon earlier in the season. This game was the closest game the Ducks had. ESPN claimed that Ohio State had a 55.3% chance of winning. College Gameday was at the Rose Bowl. This game was the biggest game of the quarter finals of the CFP (College Football Playoffs). The first quarter started off bad. Ohio State scored the first drive with true freshman wide receiver Jeremaih Smith, who is easily one of the best wide receivers in the nation, making the score 7 to 0. At the end of the first quarter the score was 14 to 0, Oregon still hadn’t scored. At the end of the second quarter the score was 34 to 8, the Ducks just couldn't get started and they could not stop Jeremiah Smith. At the end of the third quarter the score was 41 to 15, the ducks only had a 0.2 % chance of coming back. The final score was 41 to 21, Ohio State had won the Rose Bowl and was moving on to the College Football Semifinals.
Ohio State led the game in passing with 319 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. According to Will Howard, an Ohio State quarterback, Oregon had 299 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Treveyon Henderson, a running back for Ohio State, claimed that Ohio State led the game also in rushing with 94 rushing yards and 2 TD. Ohio State also led the game in receiving, with 187 receiving yards and 2 TD. Jeremiah Smith (an Ohio State wide receiver), said that Oregon also had a good game in receiving with 116 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith won the MVP (Most Valuable Player) in the Rose Bowl game.
Oregon has had a great offseason signing the number 4 class for recruiting picking up 4 fivestars [Cite Rivals] and the best receiver in the nation and number five in the national Dokorien Moore. And Oregon has picked up 17 4 star recruits [Cite 247 sports] and this led to signing the number 5 class.
Sources:
Espn
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