College football analyst praises Oregon Ducks: “veteran-led team”

After the Oregon Ducksd defeated Ohio State in one of the biggest games of the college football season, many experts considered Friday night’s road game against Purdue a classic “trap game.” National college football analyst Joel Klatt praised the Ducks for avoiding their typical slow start against the Boilermakers.

“I was skeptical that (Oregon) would play well after a big, emotional home win against Ohio State last week,” Klatt said. “And then they had to go on the road, against a Purdue team that hadn’t played particularly well this season, and you’re going to be on the road on a Friday night. I thought, man, this has all the hallmarks of a game where you sleepwalk in the first quarter. Incorrect.”

Klatt may have been right to worry about Oregon getting off to a strong start after a short week following one of the most anticipated games of the season against Ohio State. Additionally, Purdue has rightly earned the nickname “Spoilermakers” because of their history of causing upsets for teams traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana.

As a program, Purdue has 17 wins against AP Top 5 opponents while the Boilermakers were unranked, the most wins ever in college football. However, Oregon coach Dan Lanning prepared his team for the Boilermakers and the Ducks took a 21-0 halftime lead.

“Ducks came out full of energy, they came out to execute. This was clearly a veteran-led team. Lanning had them ready to play, and that was really impressive to me. . . . What’s impressive is the way they started the game, in an area that I thought was the best disappointment. “Dan Lanning understands motivation,” Klatt said.

Lanning definitely motivated his team heading into the Purdue game, despite the emotions after a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Evan Stewart led the team with 96 receiving yards on four receptions. Oregon running back Jordan James totaled 50 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Oregon faces No. 20 Illinois on Saturday in a game no one called a “trap game.” The Ducks are 21-point favorites and the Fighting Illini want to ruin Oregon’s undefeated season.

The top-20 matchup between the Ducks and the Fighting Illini will kick off at 12:30 p.m. PT at Autzen Stadium. The game will be televised by CBS.