Instant classic in Autzen: Oregon defeats Ohio State in first Big Ten test – “We wanted to give them a show”

EUGENE, Ore. – Dan Lanning walked into the postgame press conference with a bright smile.

“Does anyone have a heart rate monitor?” he joked.

Lanning is all of us, every single one of us, who loves college football and witnessed on Saturday what makes the game so incredibly great: narrow wins and big makes, passion and pageantry, surprises and underdogs. heart racing. Pulsation.

Four top 25 teams won in overtime, two teams won by two points and one won by one point.

Perhaps none were wilder than what unfolded here in the Pacific Northwest at a roaring, rocking Autzen Stadium.

On this playing field, two of college football's most expensive teams waged war – each estimated to have spent nearly $20 million on their rosters. Two major Big Ten brands battled. Here's a haymaker. An uppercut there.

Eight combined touchdowns. Nearly 1,000 yards of offense. Seven leadership changes.

Great catches. Wild runs. Big hits.

Also crazy events. An expulsion for spitting! An onside kick in the second quarter that bounces off a player. Questionable game-winning decisions. A costly offensive penalty late in the game.

And in the end, a classic for the ages: No. 3 Oregon 32, No. 2 Ohio State 31.

“You don’t get too many of those,” Oregon receiver Tez Johnson said. “You dream about playing games like this.”

A dream, that's what it felt like. A college football dream. An epic showdown that delivered. Lanning described it as a heavyweight fight that lasted every round.

His Oregon Ducks landed the final blow. A defensive stop that left the opposing quarterback lying on the turf. The clock is at zero. And the fans stream across the field. It was pure madness. Shirtless students. A crowd surfing mascot. Even those who are older. A man weaved through the crowd with a stick: “It makes me feel young!”

And amidst them, in a frenzy, marched across the field a hero: transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel, just minutes away from a 373-yard, three-touchdown performance, a nationally televised, prime-time effort that might land him in the Heisman Trophy could lead the conversation and has put the Ducks straight into the title hunt.

Here, in front of a record-breaking crowd, the Ducks snatched victory from the Buckeyes in a game that was representative of their Big Ten train: a duel against the biggest brands in front of a national prime-time audience.

That's why you're joining the Big Ten.

It ended surprisingly: the best athlete on the football field was sentenced to a costly penalty. As Ohio State went for a game-winning field goal, Jeremiah Smith, the Buckeyes' prolific freshman receiver, pushed aside a defensive back and made a reception inside Oregon's 30-yard line. Flags were flying: offensive pass interference. It put the Buckeyes back out of field goal range with 20 seconds left.

Coach Ryan Day decided against taking a timeout. As time expired, quarterback Will Howard threw incomplete to set up the final play. With six seconds left on the clock, Howard dropped back for a pass, felt the pressure and sprinted out of the pocket. Inexplicably, he tucked the ball, ran and slid downfield as the clock reached zero.

Fans streamed onto the playing field. The Buckeyes sulked away. And Oregon earned a decisive victory over its new conference's powerhouse — the most significant endorsement yet of what Lanning has built here in Eugene. The Nike-backed NIL project, a cool university town, a young, risk-taking coach.

Lanning pulled off an upset in the second quarter by executing an onside kick that bounced off an Oregon player and was recovered by the Ducks (resulting in a field goal – the ultimate difference in the game).

Afterwards, the 38-year-old trainer was breathing heavily. Many emotions flowed through him. The strongest of them? “Relief,” he said.

Breathe calmly. Midway through the season, the 6-0 Ducks are now in the driver's seat for the Big Ten title after passing their toughest test of the regular season. Otherwise, there is no such thing as Penn State or undefeated Indiana. However, there is a threat of an away game in the Big House.

Of course, this is not the time to talk about it. It's time to talk about an epic Saturday in college football. Seven top 25 teams won either in overtime, by two points or by one point. No. 13 LSU, No. 4 Penn State, No. 23 Illinois and No. 8 Tennessee all survived in overtime. No. 22 Pitt and No. 7 Alabama each won by two points.

And then there were the third-place Ducks and their one-point victory in a highly exciting environment on a perfect day of football. A record crowd of 60,129 viewers saw this film. And it sounded like 100,000.

Lanning, who wears a single-ear headset, had to cover his open ear at times to hear. “This is a good thing,” he said.

They sang, danced and swayed. Eventually they charged, jumped over barriers, reached the playing area and hugged their heroes – especially Gabriel.

“Lots of F-bombs,” the quarterback said of the aftermath. “The clock strikes zero and you just enjoy it.”

He tore up the Buckeyes, completing 23 of 44 passes and throwing some of the most beautiful long balls you'll ever see. Ohio State entered after not allowing a pass of 30 yards or more. Gabriel and his receivers had four of them.

Johnson caught a 48-yarder. Evan Stewart caught one for 69. Two other receivers each caught passes for 32 yards.

“Bombs away,” Johnson said.

“We wanted to give them a show,” Stewart said.

Boy, did they. A 496-yard show that featured seven third- or fourth-down conversions, a 100-yard rusher (Jordan James, who runs like he's “mad,” his coach said) and an offensive line that crowds the opponent .

In the locker room before the game, Lanning delivered a message to his team: Leave it on the field. Give me everything you have.

There was another message.

Lanning said, “You can sleep when you die.”