EUGENE, Ore. — With his team trailing No. 1 Oregon by 32 points at halftime, -Illinois coach Bret Bielema told his players to look at the second half as the start of a new game.
“I thought our guys really took that to heart and did some things, we just couldn’t capitalize,” Bielema said. “Any time you have two or three opportunities when you walk away [with] zero points inside the red area, you’re not going to win many games, let alone against the No. 1 team in the country.”
The Illini did outscore the Ducks 6-3 in the second half, but that wasn’t nearly enough in a 38-9 loss Saturday. Luke Altmyer threw for 161 yards for Illinois (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten), which was coming off a 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan last Saturday. That win was the third for the Illini over a Top 25 opponent this season, the most for the team since 2007.
But beating top-ranked Oregon was too tall of a task.
Dillon Gabriel threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to keep the Ducks (8-0, 5-0) undefeated. He went 18-for-26 for 291 yards, and Oregon racked up 527 yards of total offense. Tez Johnson caught six of Gabriel’s passes for 102 yards and a score.
Gabriel also surpassed Timmy Chang (17,072) on the NCAA’s career passing yards list and now has 17,236. Case Keenum holds the record with 19,217.
“Each week is important within itself,” said Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma for his sixth season of eligibility. “I think you’ve got to live that life of being present. It’s very easy to say and hard to do.”
Gabriel, rising in the Heisman conversation, was leading the country with a 77% completion rate. He has 18 passing touchdowns and five rushing scores.
The Ducks haven’t started a season with eight straight wins since 2013. It was Oregon’s third win over a ranked team this season.
Oregon blanked Purdue 35-0 last weekend. But it was a 32-31 victory over then-No. 2 Ohio State the week before that boosted the Ducks in their first season in the Big Ten.
“When you’re at the top of the food chain, everybody wants to be that,” Johnson said. “I mean, every day we’ve got a target on our back, but we don’t really care who is coming after us. We don’t care about the No. 1 spot. We just care about going 1-0 at the end of the week.”
Oregon scored on Gabriel’s 31-yard pass to Johnson on the team’s opening drive. Facing little defense, Gabriel had plenty of time in the pocket to find his receiver.
The Ducks scored on their next series when Justius Lowe caught Gabriel’s 34-yard pass and fell into the end zone. It was Lowe’s first career touchdown.
Davi Olano’s 38-yard field goal for Illinois made it 14-3.
Gabriel scored on a seven-yard keeper before Noah Whittington ran up the middle for 18 yards, knocking down a defender in the process, for another touchdown. Whittington added a two-yard touchdown reception to make it 35-3 at halftime.
Illinois got to the Oregon 2-yard line to open the third quarter but turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass. Later in the quarter, Ca’Lil Valentine’s touchdown run made it 35-9.
The last time Oregon played Illinois was in 1995, the first home game for then-Ducks coach Mike Bellotti. Ricky Whittle rushed for three touchdowns, and Oregon won 34-31.