Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel doesn’t focus on records, awards, or rankings. “I’m chasing wins, dude,” he said. “That’s where I’m at.”
Gabriel threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as top-ranked Oregon defeated No. 20 Illinois 38-9 on Saturday, keeping their undefeated status.
He completed 18 of 26 passes for 291 yards, and Oregon totaled 527 yards of offense. Tez Johnson caught six passes from Gabriel for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Gabriel also moved ahead of Timmy Chang (17,072) on the NCAA’s career passing yards list, bringing his total to 17,236. The record is held by Case Keenum with 19,217.
“Each week is important within itself,” said Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma for his sixth season. “I think you’ve got to live that life of being present. It’s very easy to say and hard to do.”
The Ducks (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) haven’t started a season with eight consecutive wins since 2013. This win marked Oregon’s third against a ranked team this season.
The Fighting Illini (6-2, 3-2) had not faced the top-ranked team in the country since 2007, when they won against Ohio State 28-21 on the road.
Luke Altmyer threw for 161 yards for Illinois, which had just come off a 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan last weekend. That win was the third for the Illini against a Top 25 team this season, the most since 2007.
Oregon shut out Purdue 35-0 last weekend, but it was their close 32-31 win over then-No. 2 Ohio State the week before that really helped the Ducks in their first season in the Big Ten.
Gabriel, who is gaining attention for the Heisman Trophy, is leading the nation with a 77% completion rate. He has thrown 18 touchdown passes and has five rushing touchdowns.
“When you’re at the top of the food chain, everybody wants to be that,” Johnson said. “I mean, every day we’ve got a target on our back but we don’t really care who is coming after us. We don’t care about the No. 1 spot. We just care about going 1-0 at the end of the week.”
Oregon scored first with Gabriel’s 31-yard pass to Johnson on their opening drive. With little defense, Gabriel had plenty of time to find his receiver.
Oregon added another score when Justius Lowe caught a 34-yard pass from Gabriel and fell into the end zone, marking Lowe’s first career touchdown. Davi Olano kicked a 38-yard field goal for Illinois, making it 14-3.
Gabriel then scored on a 7-yard run, and Noah Whittington rushed for 18 yards, knocking down a defender on the way to another touchdown. Whittington also caught a 2-yard touchdown pass, putting Oregon up 35-3 at halftime.
Illinois got to the Oregon 2-yard line to start the third quarter but failed to score on downs with an incomplete pass. Later in the quarter, Ca’Lil Valentine’s touchdown run made it 35-9.
Andrew Boyle kicked a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Oregon, which were the only points they scored in the second half.
Coach Bret Bielema told his team at halftime to treat the second half like a new game. “I thought our guys really took that to heart and did some things, we just couldn’t capitalize,” Bielema said.
“Any time you have two or three opportunities when you walk away zero points inside the red area, you’re not going to win many games, let alone against the No. 1 team in the country.”
The last time Oregon faced Illinois was in 1995, during Mike Bellotti’s first home game as Ducks coach. Ricky Whittle rushed for three touchdowns, and Oregon won 34-31 after being behind at halftime.
