Oregon football faced Maryland for the first time on Saturday and the Ducks ultimately had to overcome adversity that was self-inflicted to the tune of 95 penalty yards. The Ducks came away with the 39-18 win, pulling away in the second half.
Maryland came into the game off a bye week and played with the Ducks for the first half, scoring first with a field goal in the first quarter. Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. finished the game passing for a touchdown and throwing two costly interceptions that ended up being points for Oregon. The Ducks held Maryland to under 100 yards on the ground. The Terps finished with 83 rushing yards.
Despite the penalties, Oregon was efficient with 363 total yards of offense. The Ducks had 183 passing yards and 180 rushing yards. Dillon Gabriel passed Case Keenum for all-time total touchdowns in NCAA history on a pass to Gernorris Wilson in the third quarter. He added another touchdown pass to Evan Stewart in the final minutes to reset the mark at 180 touchdowns.
Maryland had three turnovers in the game to the tune of 16 points. The Terps had more plays in the game than Oregon (76-65). Gabriel finished the game completing 23-of-34 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns.
Noah Whittington led the Ducks' ground game with 77 yards. On a surprise fourth-down play, Jordan Burch had a carry for 36 yards and a first down. Burch was the Ducks second leading scorer on the night. Jordan James finished with seven carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.
One thing the Ducks will need to clean up is the penalties against Maryland. There were pass interference penalties, some of which were questionable. Oregon was penalized 95 yards in the game which will need to be cleaned up.
The Ducks travel to Camp Randall to take on Wisconsin next weekend. The Ducks and Badgers will meet on Nov. 16. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC/Peacock.