No. No. 1 Oregon plays in its Big Ten matchup with No. 20 Illinois, leading 35-3 at halftime.

As would be expected with a score like that, Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel is putting up big numbers. After two quarters of play, he has 246 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing. Those three touchdown throws moved him to second on the NCAA all-time list.

Gabriel’s first TD pass came on Oregon’s opening possession, completing a nine-play, 83-yard drive by hitting Tez Johnson for a 31-yard score.

On the Ducks’ next series, Gabriel Justius found Lowe deep up the middle for a 34-yard touchdown.

And just before halftime, Noah Whittington caught a two-yard pass from Gabriel for another Oregon touchdown. Gabriel also ran for a score in the first half, putting the Ducks up 21-3.

Also notable is that Gabriel completing 16 of 20 passes improved his season completion percentage to 77.23%. That puts him third behind fellow Oregon OB Bo Nix’s 77.45% last season and Mac Jones’ 77.43% for Alabama in 2020.

Gabriel’s third touchdown pass moved him past Boise State’s Kellen Moore and into second on the NCAA’s all-time TD passes list with 143. The only man ahead of Gabriel now is Case Keenum, who threw 155 TD passes in five seasons with Houston .

He now has 18 touchdown passes in his lone season at Oregon, along with 55 in his two years at Oklahoma and 70 through three seasons at UCF.

Can Gabriel finish on top? He has one half left against Illinois. Next, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington remain on Oregon’s 2024 regular season schedule. After that, a likely College Football Playoff run awaits.