Purdue has arguably its toughest test of the year on Friday night when No. 2 Oregon comes to Ross-Ade Stadium. Ahead of the matchup, Boiler Upload checks in with Duck Sports Authority publisher Scott Reed to learn more about Oregon.

The win was important on a couple of different levels. The first and most obvious is that it sets Oregon up for a great run and as the ‘leader in the clubhouse’ for a berth in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game. Barring a major collapse it also sets them up for a spot in the 12-team playoff irrespective of the outcome in the championship game.

But then there are the other areas where this win is massive. All offseason the questions surrounding Oregon were about readiness for the Big Ten playing style and the difficulty of playing in a conference known for its physicality and defense. I think this answered those questions. But Oregon also lost two close games to rival Washington last year and there were lingering questions about ‘winning big games’ surrounding Dan Lanning. This game showed that he has the ability to win a game against a big time opponent in a tight contest. He still went for some fourth down conversions he maybe should not have and he still made a couple of very aggressive calls and stayed true to his philosophy.

Finally, there were too many elite recruits in town to count and seeing the atmosphere and play will be a massive win on the recruiting trail. Oregon already picked up commitments from 2026 defensive linemen Tomuhini Topui and Viliami Moala and the word is that there are a couple of other silent commits as well.

I think that depends on what level of comes together we are talking about. Winning a national title is going to be difficult no matter what as there are now extra games to be won and even in the old four-team playoff winning that title is difficult. I don’t know yet hat there is a clear dominant force that is so much better than everyone else, there are some really good teams and I think there are going to be some great games in the playoffs.

If the rest of this season goes as expected, then we will see Oregon and Ohio State in the conference title game again – this time without the home field advantage that was clearly important. But I do think this takes Oregon from that ‘they win against the teams they are supposed to and cannot get past teams with equal talent’ dilemma. I think the season so far has shown us that Lanning knows how to get his team prepared, keep them fresh, and make plays when the moments are big. The issues against Washington last season were as much about execution and the specific play calls and I think they addressed those questions.

For the first five games, the Ducks were fairly conservative in taking shots down the field, but we saw against Ohio State that they are not afraid to go over the top. The ‘dink and dunk’ was more about how they wanted to get Gabriel more comfortable in the offense to start the season. What that does set up for this game is the ability to use those short, quick passes to set up some opportunities to go over the top again. Even Stewart and Tez Johnson have the ability to take short passes into big gains or beat man coverage for big gains. The ability of Gabriel to show accuracy on deep passes changes a lot in how teams will have to prepare.

Gabriel has not run as much this year as he did at Oklahoma, but he has been very effective when he does and that is an element that has to be factored in for any defense facing the Ducks. With Jordan James looking like one of the best backs in the conference, if a defense starts crashing too hard on James, Gabriel always ahs the option to take it himself. When he has done that this year it has led to some big plays – like a 54-yard touchdown against Oregon State and the 27-yard scoring run against Ohio State.

The Ducks have been able to get a lot of pressure on quarterbacks from the defensive line – specifically Derrick Harmon and Jordan Burch. While the sack numbers are not very high, the QB pressures are very good. Harmon is in the top three of all defensive linemen in QB pressures and Burch was top ten in the nation in the same category.

This has created passes under duress and the defensive backfield has done a very good job at limiting big plays and making stops. Most important – with the exception of Ashton Jeanty – the Ducks have done a very good job at forcing teams into being one dimensional by limiting the running game for opponents.

It is difficult not to feel some sort of ‘letdown’ following an emotional game – win or lose – so I am not sure that the Ducks will be a well-oiled machine that walks in and steamrolls from the start Friday night. I expect them to lean on Jordan James early with some solid passing and to use up a little more clock earlier than normal to ensure that there is no hangover effect from the big win. That might keep the scoring down some early.

Dillon Gabriel has had one bad game this year in the win over Michigan State but when you can call 20 of 32 for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns a bad game, that is not a bad dilemma to have. I expect the Ducks to be able to move the ball well and get key stops. Will they shut down Purdue offensively? I don’t think so because this is where the emotional change from game to game combined with a difference maker like Ryan Browne now at QB will give the Boilermakers some early juice. I still expect a comfortable win, but I am thinking this is more like 42-17 for Oregon. I think the Ducks put the reserves in somewhere in the middle of the fourth quarter and that the Boilermakers will be able to make some plays during the fourth quarter to get it into that range of points.