Oregon coach Dan Lanning tested his team to see how they would react to a long road trip after their close win against then-No. 2 Ohio State last week. The No. 2 Ducks passed that test with flying colors on Friday night.
Jordan James scored on Oregon’s first two drives, and Dillon Gabriel added two more touchdown passes, leading to a 35-0 shutout against Purdue. This was Oregon’s first road shutout since 1992.
“I think we showed what we’re capable of,” Lanning said. “It’s our first shutout in a long time. This conference is tough, and you’ve got to be able to go on the road and get a win.”
Oregon (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) will stay at the top of the conference for another week, alongside No. 3 Penn State and possibly No. 16 Indiana, depending on their game against Nebraska on Saturday. For the Ducks, it was a familiar performance.
James carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards and scored two touchdowns in his fifth consecutive game with a score. Gabriel completed 21 of 25 passes for 290 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Tez Johnson caught seven passes for 66 yards and one touchdown.
Purdue’s Ryan Browne was 9 of 19 for 93 yards with one interception and added 48 rushing yards in his second career start, as Hudson Card remained in the concussion protocol. Reggie Love had 11 carries for 93 yards, but Purdue (1-6, 0-4) lost for the sixth time in a row, with three losses by at least 35 points.
“It was more of the same for Purdue on Friday,” coach Ryan Walters said.
“I haven’t needed to, like, beg them to continue to play or continue to be bought in,” he added. “When you have failures, I think you need to be able to point to why you failed and come up with solutions on how to improve. I think when you do that and point to something tangible, it gives a sense of hope.”
Oregon jumped to a 21-0 lead with James’ touchdown runs of 8 and 1 yards, followed by Gabriel’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Johnson early in the second quarter.
The Boilermakers allowed an 8-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Noah Whittington, who caught the ball with his helmet, and a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Jay Harris in the fourth quarter.
