Dan Lanning entered the postgame press room looking like a man who had just been joyfully and chaotically mobbed by tens of thousands of happy customers – smiling, sweaty, and with a gleam in his eye.

"Anybody got a heart rate monitor?" he asked.

It was that kind of game and that kind of moment for Oregon football and its third-year coach, who got the biggest win of his Duck career on Saturday when No. 3 Oregon knocked off No. 2 Ohio State, 32-31, in front of 60,129 – the largest crowd to ever fill Autzen Stadium – many of whom stormed the field after the victory was secure.

And that took until the very final play, as the Ducks (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) and Buckeyes (5-1, 2-1) traded the lead seven times, including four instances in the second half and three in the fourth quarter alone.

The winning points came with 1 minute, 47 seconds to play on a 19-yard field goal by Atticus Sappington.

"What an unbelievable atmosphere tonight," Lanning said. "We talked all week with our players about taking jabs. It's not about throwing haymakers.

"This game is such an emotional game, it's such an impactful game and in moments like this when you want to be filled with complete joy, relief is one of the biggest feelings you feel."

The scene on the field after the game – the first between two top-5 teams in stadium history – was wild, said a handful of Oregon players, even for someone like cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, who was with Washington a season ago when the Huskies played in the College Football Playoff championship game.

"To be a part of win like this is really special," Muhammad said. "It's kind of something you dream about. It's kind of something you write down at the beginning of the year when you're doing your goals … being a part of a win like this with this team is special."

Ohio State was the highest-ranked team Oregon has ever defeated, matching the win against No. 2 Florida State in the 2015 Rose Bowl.

"It was a lot of fun," said quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was 23-for-34 passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a 27-yard score. "Winning is fun, and there is a lot of joy in winning, to be frank with you. We know this is a step for us in the right direction and a big win because we played a great team. … We're gonna enjoy it. Tomorrow, we got recovery circuit, we gotta wake up, just like everyone. The sun rises tomorrow and you gotta go earn it. That's the beauty of the game we play."

Gabriel said he was on the "edge of his seat" watching from the sidelines during the Buckeyes' final drive as they attempted to get into field-goal position in the final minute. They actually did, but were knocked back from the Oregon 28 to the 43 on an offensive pass interference penalty. Three plays later Ohio State quarterback Will Howard found himself scrambling in the middle of the field and sliding as time ran out.

"You talk about a heavyweight fight," Lanning said. "It was a heavyweight fight, this game. … When you play a really good team, you're gonna have to be able to battle in tight games like this. We played aggressive tonight, we played to win the game and our guys went out there and executed in critical moments."

Up next for the Ducks is a road trip to Purdue for a 5 p.m. game Friday. Muhammad said the Ducks can celebrate the Ohio State win for only so long before the short week of prep begins.

"Obviously we're going to try and enjoy it tonight, but shoot, tomorrow we're right back at it," Muhammad said. "We play on Friday next week so we're gonna probably nip this one in the bud and start watching film on Purdue."

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him on X @chansen_RG or by email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 'It was a heavyweight fight': Oregon reacts to win against Ohio State