A 19-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington gave the Oregon Ducks a thrilling 32-31 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in front of over 60,000 fans at the Autzen Stadium to take Dan Lanning’s side to 6-0 for the season.
There was 1:47 left on the clock after Sappington’s effort, and that should have given the Buckeyes a chance to complete a game-winning score. Indeed, they got within field goal range only to see a penalty force them 15 yards back.
With six seconds left on the clock, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard elected to run up the middle instead of running out of bounds, and the clock ran out, seeing Ohio suffer their first loss of the season.
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The Ducks are now ranked number one for the first time since 2012, a fact that Lanning responded to in forthright fashion,
“Who cares?”
After following up their win over Ohio with a huge 35-0 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, Lanning commented on how his side is coming along.
“Excited to get back at it. Certainly a fun road trip for us and the opportunity to play a road opponent in the Big Ten. Pleased with the way our guys performed and excited the way they were able to handle business and have already started attacking this week. Get an opportunity to play a really good team."
Their shutout win consigned Purdue to a sixth successive loss, having won their opening game against Indiana State, and their 1-6 record puts them bottom of the pile in the conference.
Oregon faces Illinois next in what is sure to be a much sterner test for Lanning’s 7-0 team, with Brett Bielema’s side 6-1 thus far. Their one loss so far came via a 7-21 defeat to Penn State back in late September.
Lanning is looking forward to the clash, one that is sure to be a tight-fought battle.
"They’re playing really good football right now. Certainly a fun challenge for us, and again, expecting our fans to make an impact on this game make an environment really special like they have all season. I think that’ll be a benefit to us as we step out on the field on Saturday.”
The visit to Eugene is only the second Illinois have made, the last coming in 1995.
2024 is Lanning’s third season in charge of the Oregon Ducks, and last season’s record saw them move into the Big Ten Conference. The win over Purdue meant that the team completed a 7-0 start to the season for the first time since 2013, further cementing his standing as one of the best in the business. This is the 38-year-old’s first college football head coaching role, and his current 29-5 record is proof of his abilities in the position and no doubt a strong career progression is on the cards.
