Oregon puts it all together in rivalry rout of Oregon State - ESPN

CORVALLIS, Ore. — After a week during which Oregon State helped revive the Pac-12 from the ashes of conference realignment, the energy at Reser Stadium on Saturday in the 128th installment of the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry — the first since the Ducks bolted for the Big Ten — was high.

But over the course of 60 minutes, the Ducks deflated the orange-tinted stands to the point of emptying them with a 49-14 win that more accurately corresponded with the high expectations they had coming into the season.

«I love the fact that we got to go in a hostile environment and perform this way, but that's our standard, that's our expectation,» Oregon coach Dan Lanning said.

Despite beating Idaho and Boise State, nothing about the Ducks' first two wins felt dominant or representative of the talent they have on both sides of the ball. Even though Lanning continued to reiterate they didn't care what the outside noise said about them, everyone wearing green and gold knew something was off.

«The first two games, obviously we didn't play to our standard, whether it's getting our feet wet, new team, whatever you want to call it,» linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. «But I told the guys, I'm a firm believer in the rule of threes and this third game, this is the game where we're going to take off. I think everyone bought into that and showed out on the field today.»

While Oregon kept preaching a combination of patience and trust over the last two weeks, quarterback Dillon Gabriel was keen on his team not panicking despite what was happening and the fact the Ducks dropped from third to ninth in the latest AP Top 25 poll.

«We live in a world where if it doesn't look a certain way, there's opinions, but there's also panic, right?,» Gabriel said.