Northwestern heads to Eugene, Ore., ranked 20th and looking for its fifth straight win. Its opponent, Oregon, is trending in the opposite direction.
Northwestern (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) has found success in well-traveled quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has 12 passing touchdowns and a career-high nine rushing TDs. Chiles is the only player in the country to have multiple games of at least three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns this season.
He spent his first college season at Oregon State and his next two years at Michigan State before transferring to Northwestern. He has faced Oregon one other time and was on the losing end of a 31-10 result for Michigan State in 2024.
Northwestern’s defense, meanwhile, has allowed 13 touchdowns total and 16.6 points per game this season.
Oregon (4-3, 2-2), which has lost two of its past three games, made headlines early in the week when coach Dan Lanning announced that he does not anticipate quarterback Dante Moore playing again this season. Moore suffered a concussion against Southern California on Sept. 26 and has missed the past three games.
“I can’t go into great detail about it other than it’s bigger than what we can say,” Lanning told USA Today on Monday. “Now I do know, like I said, that he’s going to be 100 percent recovered, be able to be an effective player in the future. But this isn’t like a selfish decision on Dante’s part, saying, ‘I don’t want to come back. The season doesn’t look like the way I want it to look.’ That’s not at all what this is.”
Oregon likely will turn back to Dylan Raiola at quarterback this week. Raiola started against UCLA on Oct. 10 and struggled (6 of 19, 43 yards) before being replaced in the fourth quarter of a 17-15 loss, then came off the bench to replace Brock Thomas the following week against Nebraska to lead Oregon to a 17-14 comeback win. Last week, Raiola couldn’t lead enough scoring drives in a 21-10 loss at Illinois despite completing 27 of 41 passes for 246 yards.
Oregon’s once-high-powered offense has averaged 14.0 points over the past three games. In reponse, the Ducks fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer after the defeat to Illinois.
“It’s a great opportunity for us defensively to put our focus back on being the best version of us, prepare for what we know and what we’ve seen on film, and then be in a situation to adjust well throughout the game,” Northwestern coach David Braun said of Mehringer’s dismissal. “But that does certainly put a unique twist on this week’s preparation.”
Lanning said assistant quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson, who previously served as the offensive coordinator at Wyoming, Michigan State and Colorado and was part of Georgia’s staff with Lanning in 2018, will take the lead in calling plays, with the overall strategy being a collaborative effort.