Oregon player Dan Lanning reacts to the win against Washington

Oregon’s win over Washington on Saturday night couldn’t have been more impressive.

The top-ranked Ducks scored seven touchdowns on offense, had 10 sacks on defense and kept their record clean as they started the postseason with a 49-21 win at Autzen Stadium.

With an announced attendance of 59,603, Oregon improved to 12-0 overall and completed its first regular season as a member of the Big Ten with a conference record of 9-0.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning gathers his team during a timeout as the No. 1 Oregon Ducks host the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, November 30, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon.

Next up is the Big Ten Championship Game against Penn State on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

“It’s been a heck of a ride, but we’re not done yet,” said Eugene-born inside linebacker Bryce Boettcher, who had 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.

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The Ducks’ dominant performance on Saturday gave coach Dan Lanning his first career win against the Huskies (6-6, 4-5). The third-year coach was 0-3 in rivalry play – three losses by three points each in 2022 and 2023 – including a 34-31 loss in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas last season.

“It meant a lot,” Lanning said of the win. “I mean, I go to bed every night thinking about her, I wake up every morning thinking about her. So it would be nice to be able to think about a win.”

Lanning isn’t the only one haunted by last season’s losses.

Senior wide receiver Tez Johnson returned from a two-game absence with injury to make three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.

“It was personal for me,” he said. “Even though it’s not last year’s team, I mean, Washington is Washington. I hate them. … That loss in Las Vegas was really tough on the whole team, not just me.”

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 20 yards and a score, played his first game against Washington.

He said there were discussions about the rivalry leading up to the game, but he preferred to focus on “just being where we are.” History doesn’t help us at all. You have to prove it, and I think we did. …Winning is difficult. It’s not easy to do it consistently. It’s challenging.”

Still, a win against Washington on senior night can’t get much better for a player like Boettcher.

“It was kind of a perfect ending,” he said. “Any time you can beat a rival at home like that and let them take the game like we did, it’s a great feeling.”

Next up is Penn State (11-1), whose only loss is against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions ended their regular season with a 44-7 win over Maryland on Saturday.

“We were able to observe them a little bit, but we couldn’t pay as much attention to them,” Lanning said. “I know they are really hard to defend, they form a lot of different formations and I think they use their personnel brilliantly. Obviously they have an elite tight end, a great quarterback…certainly they have some identity traits that we’ve seen, but I’m excited to dive deeper into them.”

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