Dante Moore threw for 310 yards and a pair of scores to lead No. 8 Oregon to a 42-13 win over Minnesota on Friday night in Eugene, Ore.
Moore threw only three incomplete passes in 30 attempts as the Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) racked up 510 yards of total offense in their fourth straight victory.
Tight end Kenyon Sadiq celebrated his return from injury with eight catches for 96 yards, including a touchdown, and the Ducks were dominant from beginning to end against the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota (6-4, 4-3) was coming off a bye but nonetheless couldn’t get much going on offense. The Golden Gophers were held to 200 total yards, 62 of those rushing.
Quarterback Drake Lindsey threw for 138 yards with a touchdown, but lost 28 yards running the ball (thanks primarily to two Oregon sacks).
It was a different story for Oregon’s ground game as the Ducks ran for 179 and four touchdowns on 30 carries, as well.
The Ducks started fast, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game. Two long completions from Moore to Malik Benson and Sadiq set up Oregon at the Gophers’ 1-yard line. Jordon Davison punched it in for a touchdown.
On the Ducks’ next possession, Davison ran 39 yards over left guard for his second touchdown of the night and a 14-0 Oregon lead.
An Oregon fumble in the second quarter led to a Brady Denaburg 46-yard field goal, but Oregon struck with another big run, Noah Whittington powering through the line and somehow emerging from a pack of tacklers to go 40 yards for a 21-3 Ducks lead with 9:31 left in the second.
The Ducks took a 28-6 lead into halftime, Moore finding Sadiq for a 3-yard touchdown pass along the side of the end zone with 37 seconds left in the half. Oregon had 332 total yards at halftime, 200 through the air for Moore.
A Lindsey-to-Javon Tracy 10-yard touchdown pass for Minnesota with 8:17 left in the third quarter made it 28-13, but the Ducks responded with Moore’s 13-yard touchdown to Jeremiah McClellan a few minutes later, sealing Oregon’s win.
Jay Harris ran for a 12-yard touchdown for the Ducks early in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
