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Through two first two weeks of the season, the Oregon Ducks' defense was one of the best in the country, giving up just 16 total points to Montana State and Oklahoma State. On Saturday against Northwestern, the trend continued. Though the Ducks allowed 14 points, both touchdowns came in the latter half of the fourth quarter with the game well in hand. And for a third consecutive week, there were plenty of contributors — a theme of Oregon in 2025: talent and depth at nearly every position. Where Oregon Ducks' defense, special teams rank in key stats after Week 3

he Oregon Ducks' Week 3 offensive performance, which produced four touchdowns and two field goals, was far different from what they showed in Weeks 1 and 2, when they scored 59 and 59 points, respectively. Despite the stark drop in points on the board, there was a lot of positives that came out of their matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats, who managed to run the ball and chew clock against the Ducks' defense. For starters, Oregon was whistled for zero penalties — a testament to Dan Lanning's coaching and the poise of what's considered to be a rather young squad. They also executed at a high rate on third down, converting seven of 11 opportunities and registering 21 first downs. The Ducks had several sustained drives combined with their patented quick-scoring drives. Where Oregon Ducks' offense ranks nationally in key stats following Week 3

Breaking down Will Stein’s five best play calls from Oregon’s win over Northwestern Wanna dive into the Xs and Os? Here's a breakdown of Oregon's five best offensive play calls from this weekend's win over Northwestern.

Unis are definitely growing on me. obviously the coloring was the shocker; but the design is absolutely flawless 🔥🔥🔥. We need to use this as a get-right game for improving the run defense at all costs. We need our two deeps in early and getting as many reps as possible. Jim Knowles has, no doubt, been keeping an eye out on this aspect of the defense. Lets get it fixed this week!

SC is ranked 25th in the current AP Poll. SC should take care of business at home Saturday against Michigan State. Then the Trojans play at Illinois, bye, host Michigan, and then play ND on the road. ND will be rooting for Illinois to win at Indiana on Saturday. This Saturday, Notre Dame hosts (and likely hoists) Purdue, plays at Arkansas against a prolific Hogs O, hosts a now off-the-radar Boise State, has a week off, and then hosts SC. SC is not happy with the timing of ND's 2nd bye week, and is not happy that, in addition to traveling to South Bend, it also travels to Illinois, Nebraska, and Northwestern. 2026 is the last game scheduled in the long-running series. ND makes more money from NBC with SC on its schedule. The SC series helps ND recruit So-Cal. Games played in South Bend are but one game where SC has to travel East. SC decides to cancel ND, and I would understand, and I also believe that the cancellation would not shake the very foundation of CFB.

Totally agree HDuck and NW has always been known for a tough running game even when they are not very good. As I said elsewhere, take away a 79 yard run vs our reserves and NW averaged 2.8 yards a carry. I'll take that vs a team that features the run any time.

DSC Inside Read: 3-2-1 — Northwestern Look Back, Oregon State Look AheadDuck Sports CentralDSC Inside Read: 3-2-1 — Northwestern Look Back, Oregon S...Oregon Ducks football, Dan Lanning, Oregon recruiting, college football, NIL, Big Ten, Pac-12, Scott Reed, Duck Sports Central, recruiting news

Minus a 79 yard run in the closing minutes of the game against a lot of reserves, NW averaged 2.8 yards a carry. In the previous game NW averaged over 8 yards a carry. It was a big ten game on the road, not a top half big ten team probably, but still it was 34-0 going into the fourth quarter. I'm not worried about the run defense at this point. In fact considering the opponents I think Oregon's defense showed better than Penn St. did vs Villanova, a DI championship subdivision team.

I don’t think it’s concern, but I’m interested in investigating why NW was able to sustain drives. They had a few unforced errors and questionable play calls that stalled their drives that we can’t count on great teams to make later in the season. Is it talent? Experience? Is it gap control? Are we not getting off blocks? What are the tackles being asked to do vs the linebackers? Was it a numbers game? We are interested in learning more about our defense along with the offense.

Jurrion Dickey responds to the Oregon Duck family on Transfer. Best of luck to this young man! Oregon Ducks On SIFormer Oregon Receiver Jurrion Dickey Speaks Out on Trans...Former Oregon Ducks receiver Jurrion Dickey was suspended from the team during fall camp, and he released a statement on Sunday to share his appreciation for th

Thank you David for writing today's article for Our Beloved Duck Forum! Tackling a running back, who often times can squat 400 lbs, is a hard task. Ordinarily a 300 lb defensive line versus a 200 lb running back is a no contest. But 20 plus years ago the rules were changed to allow Offensive players to aid and abet the runner by pushing from behind the runner. So in the tight confines of the scrum adding in a few Offensive Linemen changes the dynamics. I believe it is necessary for the first defensive player to get as low as possible. General rule in football - Low man wins. Hitting the running back above the hips and trying to tackle him allows the scrum to continue the push forward giving more yards after contact (YAC). Someone must sacrifice their body and start grabbing ankles. Watch our defensive backs make a tackle in the open field. They tackle the lower legs. This is a huge improvement that Dan Lanning and staff have improved.

Is Notre Dame in if they win out? I don't see many quality wins on their schedule. Their best hope is Miami and Texas A&M to win out so they can say they only lost by four combined points to two top ten teams .

For two weeks in a row the Oregon defense has been exposed, though the final scoreboard may not show it. The Duck defense has a weakness in defending the run. Against Oklahoma State the Ducks gave up 144 total yards, which may not sound too bad as the bulk of Cowboys’ total offense came off only a few drives — ... The Ducks Have a Problem With Run Defense

Actually, I was surprisingly calm as the game unfolded, even when the Dawgs were down big time early. I was faltering a bit late in the 4th when down by 8 and facing a 4th and 7 with little time left. That's when Gunner Stockton uncorked the biggest of his many clutch plays by throwing a perfectly thrown back shoulder fade caught in the end zone and then threw a pass again in the end zone to convert and tie the game. Maybe it was irrational but I just felt at that point that we would win this sucker. After the game remained tied when UTs young kicker missed a game winning field goal and then made one in OT, I knew we would somehow pull out the win with a touchdown in OT. I was relieved of course and really did enjoy my post-game glass of celebratory bourbon. Let me add that I was really impressed by the Ducks' two D. Moores--what a great battery!

We just went through this last year. No reason to suspect we won’t see the exact same caveman football almost every week. The majority of teams in our new league don’t like the forward pass. We were ahead of a conference foe 31-0 on the road after three quarters, and they were still running the ball…that tells me all I need to know.

"...if any conference is known for tough offensive lines that bull for rush yards...it is the B1G, because they have to in order to compete. Even weak teams will move the ball on the ground.." Let me provide an example. In Iowa's first two games they had 46 first down attempts. Could have been after a kickoff, after receiving a punt, after a turnover, after stopping the opponent, after being successful on the prior 2nd or 3rd down, whatever. On those 46 first downs, they ran the ball 34 times. I don't know what Northwestern's ratio was on Saturday but it seemed to me they were trying to grind out sequential short-yardage runs to maintain possession by starting with a run. I suspect the Ducks are going to see that from most opponents as the season progresses. It is the Big Ten DNA. And, if game video makes it look successful, opponents will revert to DNA. It becomes very tiring for a D-line. And, as the clock winds frustrating for fans of the defense to watch. It is one reason why there are relatively few high scoring conference games...peck, peck, peck, first down, peck, peck, peck, first down, peck, peck, peck...

I'm with you Charles, but... Phil & Penny represent the entire state in actuality. Yes Eugene. Yes UO. But their generosity and philanthropy reaches all across the state. Even to Corvalis. They have quietly given millions to OSU. The heart clinic where my wife received life saving surgery is named the Phil and Penny Knight Pavillion, here in Portland. The largest heart facility between Seattle and San Francisco. It makes sense to do this for Civil War game. And as a footnote, the special "state honor" unis, blue and orange/yellow, and the absurdly strange orange legged Duck honor unis, both led to disastrous losses. Humiliating even. This game should all but guarantee a win.

I do not agree...

I don't think he wants it. He's been on these lists for quite a while now. Probably 10 years. If he wanted a head coaching job by now he would be as the opportunity would be there.

I have no beef with Freeman. I have a beef with Georgia and Penn State having played one more game, against an excellent opponent, than Notre Dame last season, and that ND played four G5 opponents in 2024. I also have a beef with an AD having the same voting power as a conference commissioner, at least the Power 2 commissioners. Chris Ash is not doing the job as Al Golden's replacement at DC.

Great take. It's hard to win football games. The 100% accomplishment vs. NW, there were no penalties called on OBD.

Didn't you get the memo.. Black is one of our alternate colors now. We took that from the Beavers as well. They got 300 mil but we took everything else they love from them. It's a fair trade when you put it that way.

Not my favorite. I kinda want some green and yellow because he is an Oregon alum. I do like the Nike wing on the helmet.

Have to be honest I don't hate Notre Dame like I used to, I really like Freeman as a coach, it helps a lot when they don't have a jerk for a coach.

The Smart/Lanning approach seems to work best with a monster elite 330+ pound future NFL NT. While far from an unknown last season, I still felt Jamaree Caldwell was a bit of an unsung hero last year. This year the defense has three young guys who fit the profile but are still finding their way. The staff didn't seem to love anything in the portal at NT above the young guys so maybe that is promising. Maybe some of it is simple growing pains. The rise of the Kirby Smart defense was (obviously) greatly aided by having 6 future NFL defenders to put in the box. The Georgia staff finding how to best leverage that advantage might have been much of their "secret sauce" rather than anything scheme (and that isn't at all a put down, rather good coaching). Penn State obviously has a pair of good backs. Allen so far is 34-273 at 8.0 ypc. Singleton is 41-179 at 4.4 ypc. (Penn State so far has been 51% run). Maybe "mildly concerned" if Penn State can methodically rush the ball and put together long drives, keeping the Duck offense on the sidelines. I'm sure Penn State will be happy to try to play a game limiting Oregon to 2 possessions per quarter and not shoot it out.