Second-ranked Oregon scored touchdowns on its first three possessions and cruised to a 35-0 win over Purdue in a Big Ten matchup at West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday night.
Oregon (7-0, 4-0 in Big Ten) got a pair of first-half touchdown runs from Jordan James. His first score was set up by a 49-yard completion from quarterback Dillon Gabriel to wide receiver Evan Stewart, a pinpoint throw into tight coverage.
Stewart caught four passed for 96 yards.
Gabriel went 21 of 25 passing for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was intercepted once. He played well into the fourth quarter before exiting the game prior to Oregon’s final possession.
That was after backup running back Jay Harris ran for a 12-yard touchdown with 8:13 to play to seal the Ducks’ win.
Gabriel, who has thrown for multiple touchdowns in each of his first seven games after he transferred from Oklahoma, threw scoring passes to Tez Johnson early in the second quarter and Noah Whittington early in the fourth.
Purdue (1-6, 0-4) moved into field goal range against Oregon’s reserves in the fourth quarter, but the Boilermakers turned the ball over on downs with 4:54 to play.
Johnson had seven catches for 66 yards coming off a big game against Ohio State last week, and the touchdown was his seventh this season.
Purdue’s Ryan Browne was 9 for 19 passing for 93 yards and added 48 rushing yards. Running back Reggie Love III had 93 yards on 11 carries in the Boilermakers’ sixth straight loss.
Kam Alexander sealed the shutout with an interception with 21 seconds to play.
Oregon had 421 yards of total offense, despite not having tight end Terrance Ferguson due to illness. The Ducks were also without injured defensive lineman Jordan Burch (knee), who many feel is their best defensive player.
Still the Ducks limited the Boilermakers to 4 of 12 on third downs and 0 of 3 on fourth downs. Oregon finished with 10 tackles for loss.
–Field Level Media
