EUGENE, Ore. — Dan Lanning muscled his way through the crowd, snaking his way through the seemingly immovable mass of Oregon fans that had smothered the field after the biggest regular season win in school history.
As the Ducks’ head coach spotted his exit Saturday night in Autzen Stadium, quarterback Dillon Gabriel re-emerged from an adjacent tunnel to soak in a 32-31 victory against No. 2 Ohio State . Gabriel crossed his arms, posing in front of the fans as they celebrated.
He screamed.
“A lot of F-bombs,” Gabriel smiled, recalling the moment. “Rightfully so.”
There may be bigger games for No. 3 Oregon down the road, but on this Saturday night, the Ducks stood tall in the center of the ring as the new heavyweight of the Big Ten.
“You know what’s so hard about football?” Lanning asked when the celebration subsided. “This game is such an emotional game, it’s such an impactful game, and in moments like this you want to be filled with complete joy, but relief is one of the biggest feelings you feel because of how hard your guys work. It’s never about the team that wants it the most. It’s never about the team that just has great emotion. It’s about the team that executes.”