The No. 1 Oregon Ducks put the state on their shoulders in blasting of No. 20 Illinois
The Ducks look the part with Michigan on the horizon.
EUGENE — For a few moments, the patch of orange inside of Autzen Stadium Saturday was alive. The fanbase of No. 20 Illinois traveled as well as any of Oregon’s former Pac-12 foes, flying across the country to cheer on an unexpectedly good Illini team that arrived in Eugene this week with a 6-1 record.
The away crowd booed when the Ducks came out of the tunnel, erupted when the Illinois cheerleaders and flag bearers streaked across the field and even gave a few hearty bellows to the referees in the first quarter.
So, it’s not that the energy of the orange postage stamp in a sea of yellow had dissipated by the end of the third quarter — it had just changed. With No. 1 Oregon making a Big Ten conference game in October appear like a season-opener against (insert any FCS team other than Idaho here), instead of quitting, the supporters from Champaign decided to stop swimming upstream.
They got a little bit louder now during ‘Shout’ between the third and fourth quarters with Oregon leading 35-9. They gave some loud “Ba Ba Bas” during Sweet Caroline. And they stayed in their seats far longer than those in Oregon’s student section, who, with a 30-point lead against a quality opponent, decided an afternoon of extra-curricular activities on a relatively dry Saturday would prove more compelling than another quarter of football.
It was Oregon 38, Illinois 9 at the end, and the only storming this time was for the aisles to beat traffic.
“Success only matters if you’re satisfied,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said after the win, “and I know our team is not.”