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Oregon Commands Minnesota on Friday Night, Ducks Dominate 42-13

by: Ted Leroux9 hours ago
MU_OregonVsMinnesota14

What a concept — when it isn’t a monsoon, Oregon’s offense generates big plays and lots of touchdowns in a commanding 42-13 victory over Minnesota.

The Ducks started fast on the first drive of the game, with Dante Moore exploiting perimeter matchups on back-to-back strikes, a 38-yard completion to Malik Benson followed by a 23-yard pass to Kenyon Sadiq. That set up a Jordan Davison touchdown run to make it 7–0.

Oregon kept rolling on its second drive, this time leaning on the ground game for explosive gains. Davison burst 39 yards through the Golden Gopher defense to put the Ducks up 14–0 in a commanding early start for the offense.

After a Minnesota field goal cut the lead to 14–3, the Ducks answered with yet another explosive play — this time a no-nonsense run from Noah Whittington. He powered through what seemed to be the entire Minnesota defense, on his way to a 40-yard touchdown, stretching Oregon’s lead to 21–3.

Following a red-zone stop — yes, you read that correctly, a red-zone stop — Minnesota settled for a field goal to make it 21–6. The Ducks then continued their first-half dominance, with Dante Moore zeroing in on the tight ends. Jamari Johnson hauled in a 24-yard reception to get Oregon back into the red zone, and Kenyon Sadiq added three catches for 35 yards on the drive, capping it off with a touchdown grab in the back of the end zone. The score pushed the Ducks’ lead to 28–6 at halftime.

Minnesota had just one drive of more than 25 yards in the first half, but its opening possession of the second half broke that trend. The Gophers converted three third downs, finishing the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Drake Lindsey to Javon Tracy.

The momentum didn’t last long, though. On the ensuing possession, Oregon marched 75 yards in 11 plays, capped by Dante Moore’s second touchdown pass of the day — this one to Jeremiah McClellan — to extend the Ducks’ lead to 35–13 heading into the fourth quarter.

Following “Shout” between the third and fourth quarters, Oregon fans at Autzen Stadium had plenty of reasons to stay loud. A seven-play, 70-yard drive ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by Jay Harris, effectively putting the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter.

Oregon was extremely efficient with Dante Moore commanding the offense. Moore completed 27 of his 30 pass attempts for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He leaned heavily on his tight ends in the absence of Gary Bryant Jr. and Dakorien Moore. Jamari Johnson hauled in four passes for 57 yards, while Kenyon Sadiq delivered his best performance of the season — eight catches for 96 yards and a touchdown — a welcome sight after missing last week’s game due to injury.

Now Oregon enters the two games everyone circled before the season began — USC and Washington. Both await with the College Football Playoff still shining as the light at the end of the tunnel.

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