Saturday, September 13
Evanston, IL
9:00 AM
University of Oregon
at
Northwestern
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
5 Things To Watch: Northwestern
09/12/25 | Football
The Ducks open Big Ten play at the Wildcats on Saturday (9 a.m., FOX).
EVANSTON, Ill. — The fourth-ranked Oregon football team faces fresh challenges this week, after two impressive wins to open the season.
The Ducks will go on the road for the first time this season, and they'll take on a Big Ten opponent for the first time as well, when they play at Northwestern on Saturday. The game at Martin Stadium kicks off at 9 a.m. PT.
Oregon opened the season with a 59-13 victory over Montana State and followed it with a 69-3 win over Oklahoma State, both at Autzen Stadium. With an average score of 64-8, the Ducks are the only team in the FBS that ranks top-10 nationally on both scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Wildcats opened the season with a loss at Tulane, then rebounded to win at home last week, 42-7 over Western Illinois. Northwestern won its only previous meeting with Oregon, 14-10, in 1974.
Saturday's game will be televised by FOX, with Gus Johnson providing play by play, analysis from Joel Klatt and sideline reporting by Jenny Taft.
Some storylines to watch when the game kicks off …
1. After winning the conference title in its first year as league members, Oregon begins its quest to win the Big Ten Championship again Saturday.
The Ducks were a perfect 9-0 in conference play last season, completing an unbeaten regular season. Going back to the 2023 season, Oregon has 20 consecutive regular-season wins, the longest active streak in the nation.
The Ducks know they're the hunted at this point.
"Ultimately, we expect everyone's best," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "That's what we want, because that's how we'll get our best. … You want a challenge from the teams you get to play, otherwise you're going to lose some of that skill level because it's not required. So playing again to our standard — what we want to look like — is really important. Getting people's best is going to be a great example of what it takes for us to be our best."
2. It's an earlier start time than usual, with Saturday's game kicking off at 11 a.m. local time, and 9 a.m. on the West Coast.
Typically the Ducks are on the practice field by about 8:30 a.m. most days of the week. So they should be accustomed to getting out of bad, getting out to the field and getting after it.
"That's what I told the guys this morning when we were about to go out to practice, 'This is about the same time we'll be playing, fellas,"" Lanning said earlier this week. "Our bodies are used to it. It's something that we can do that's a little bit different, and we're looking forward to that opportunity."
3. One team Saturday, however, will have had a little longer to prepare. Northwestern had a day longer between games than did the Ducks, as the Wildcats played on Friday of last week.
In fact, Northwestern is the second straight UO opponent with extra time to prepare. Oklahoma State played in Autzen Stadium last week following a Thursday game the week before, a fact Lanning said the Ducks have raised with the conference.
It didn't hurt the Ducks last week, when they beat the Cowboys. They'll look to overcome the issue in similar fashion this week.
4. There weren't many glaring issues for the Ducks in their dominant win last week. But that doesn't mean there wasn't anything to clean up in practice this week.
A point of emphasis this week was penalties, after Oregon committed six last week — a number of them pre-snap procedural issues. That could be especially important against Northwestern, the least-penalized team in the country in regular-season play since the start of head coach David Braun's tenure in 2023.
"We'll get it fixed," Lanning said. "It was clear what we can coach better and what we can execute better, but we'll get that fixed."
5. The venue for Saturday's game is a temporary stadium, while the Wildcats complete work on a new field to open for the 2026 season.
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium holds just 12,000 fans, and is located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
"I think the field is still going to be the same size; that's what you focus on," Lanning said. "It's definitely a different environment, but I've coached in some of those. I've coached high school football. I've coached FCS football. I've played NAIA football. I've been in some of those environments, and if you love football you want to play your best regardless of what the crowd looks like or the setting is. It'll be a fun experience for our players. They don't get to do that very often."
The Ducks will go on the road for the first time this season, and they'll take on a Big Ten opponent for the first time as well, when they play at Northwestern on Saturday. The game at Martin Stadium kicks off at 9 a.m. PT.
Oregon opened the season with a 59-13 victory over Montana State and followed it with a 69-3 win over Oklahoma State, both at Autzen Stadium. With an average score of 64-8, the Ducks are the only team in the FBS that ranks top-10 nationally on both scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Wildcats opened the season with a loss at Tulane, then rebounded to win at home last week, 42-7 over Western Illinois. Northwestern won its only previous meeting with Oregon, 14-10, in 1974.
Saturday's game will be televised by FOX, with Gus Johnson providing play by play, analysis from Joel Klatt and sideline reporting by Jenny Taft.
Some storylines to watch when the game kicks off …
1. After winning the conference title in its first year as league members, Oregon begins its quest to win the Big Ten Championship again Saturday.
The Ducks were a perfect 9-0 in conference play last season, completing an unbeaten regular season. Going back to the 2023 season, Oregon has 20 consecutive regular-season wins, the longest active streak in the nation.
The Ducks know they're the hunted at this point.
"Ultimately, we expect everyone's best," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "That's what we want, because that's how we'll get our best. … You want a challenge from the teams you get to play, otherwise you're going to lose some of that skill level because it's not required. So playing again to our standard — what we want to look like — is really important. Getting people's best is going to be a great example of what it takes for us to be our best."
2. It's an earlier start time than usual, with Saturday's game kicking off at 11 a.m. local time, and 9 a.m. on the West Coast.
Typically the Ducks are on the practice field by about 8:30 a.m. most days of the week. So they should be accustomed to getting out of bad, getting out to the field and getting after it.
"That's what I told the guys this morning when we were about to go out to practice, 'This is about the same time we'll be playing, fellas,"" Lanning said earlier this week. "Our bodies are used to it. It's something that we can do that's a little bit different, and we're looking forward to that opportunity."
3. One team Saturday, however, will have had a little longer to prepare. Northwestern had a day longer between games than did the Ducks, as the Wildcats played on Friday of last week.
In fact, Northwestern is the second straight UO opponent with extra time to prepare. Oklahoma State played in Autzen Stadium last week following a Thursday game the week before, a fact Lanning said the Ducks have raised with the conference.
It didn't hurt the Ducks last week, when they beat the Cowboys. They'll look to overcome the issue in similar fashion this week.
4. There weren't many glaring issues for the Ducks in their dominant win last week. But that doesn't mean there wasn't anything to clean up in practice this week.
A point of emphasis this week was penalties, after Oregon committed six last week — a number of them pre-snap procedural issues. That could be especially important against Northwestern, the least-penalized team in the country in regular-season play since the start of head coach David Braun's tenure in 2023.
"We'll get it fixed," Lanning said. "It was clear what we can coach better and what we can execute better, but we'll get that fixed."
5. The venue for Saturday's game is a temporary stadium, while the Wildcats complete work on a new field to open for the 2026 season.
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium holds just 12,000 fans, and is located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
"I think the field is still going to be the same size; that's what you focus on," Lanning said. "It's definitely a different environment, but I've coached in some of those. I've coached high school football. I've coached FCS football. I've played NAIA football. I've been in some of those environments, and if you love football you want to play your best regardless of what the crowd looks like or the setting is. It'll be a fun experience for our players. They don't get to do that very often."
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