A big showdown awaits as the 20th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini travel west to face No. 1 Oregon on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS, Paramount+).
Oregon inherits the No. 1 ranking after Texas suffered its first loss of the season to Georgia in Week 8. Per the Associated Press, this marks the first time the Ducks have climbed to the top of the AP poll since 2012.
Led by Heisman contender Dillon Gabriel at quarterback, Oregon has started its first season in the Big Ten with a 7-0 record overall and 4-0 in the conference. Most notably, the Ducks took down No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 12. Gabriel currently leads the country with a 77 percent completion rate. He has also passed for 15 TDs and rushed for four.
With road trips to Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as home games against Maryland and Washington, the Ducks do not have another ranked opponent on their schedule, which makes Saturday’s game against Illinois that much more important.
Coming off its third win over a Top 25 opponent this season, Illinois brings a lot of confidence into its first game against the top-ranked team in the nation since 2007, a game the Fighting Illini won when they defeated Ohio State on the road. Illinois’ only loss this season was a 21-7 defeat to then-No. 9 Penn State.
While Gabriel has been sensational for the Ducks, Luke Altmyer has been equally impressive for Illinois. Having thrown 15 touchdown passes and only one interception, Altmyer has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the Power Four conferences. On top of that, he is completing 65.9 percent of his throws.
After transferring from Ole Miss ahead of the 2023 season, he only threw 13 touchdown passes the entire season and was picked off 10 times, showing just how remarkable of a turnaround the 2024 season has been for Altmyer and the Illinois program.
Defense has also played a major role in its success. In Illinois’ most recent win over Michigan, linebacker Gabe Jacas had 13 tackles (six solo), 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
While the Fighting Illini defense has been fantastic, it has not played a team like Oregon yet. Along with Gabriel’s success, running back Jordan James has accounted for 717 rushing yards, eight TDs and 5.9 yards per carry.
As Illinois and Oregon prepare for their first meeting since 1995, it should be interesting to see how these two teams match up and if Illinois’ defense can limit Oregon’s scoring opportunities.
