Oregon’s next big test has its kickoff time locked in, and the Ducks will get a prime late-October challenge when No. 24 Northwestern comes to Eugene on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The timing matters because Oregon is still trying to steady its push toward the College Football Playoff after edging Nebraska 17-14 on Saturday night. That win moved the Ducks to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play, and it kept their path to a third straight CFP appearance alive. Before Northwestern arrives, Oregon has to get through a road trip to Illinois, then turn around for a ranked matchup back home against one of the league’s most surprising teams.
Northwestern has become a real problem for opponents under David Braun, and the numbers back it up. The Wildcats are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten after a 24-21 comeback win at Michigan State.
Their lone loss came in a 29-23 battle with No. 6 Indiana in Bloomington, a game they kept close the whole way.
There’s also a wrinkle that makes this one even more interesting: the Wildcats will host Rutgers before heading west, and that will be only their second game at the new Ryan Field. In the middle of that fast start is quarterback Aidan Chiles, who has given Northwestern a steady hand and a dangerous ceiling. Through six games, he has thrown for 1,398 yards, nine touchdowns, and has not been picked off.
Chiles just added another big moment to the résumé with his homecoming against his former team in East Lansing. Against Michigan State, he threw for 226 yards on 18 of 27 passing and ran for a touchdown.
Oregon knows Chiles well. Dan Lanning’s team saw him when he started for Michigan State in 2024 and when he was a backup at Oregon State in 2023. In that 2024 matchup, Chiles went 10 of 17 for 154 yards, and Oregon handled the Spartans 31-10 at Autzen Stadium.
Northwestern’s attack has also gotten a major boost from former Oregon coach Chip Kelly, now the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator. His presence has helped fuel Northwestern’s best start since 2020, when the team opened the shortened COVID-19 season 6-1.
The Wildcats have more than just a quarterback pulling the strings. Running back Caleb Komolafe leads the ground game with 75 carries for 401 yards and four touchdowns, good for 5.3 yards per carry. His biggest outing came in Northwestern’s first game at Ryan Field, when the Wildcats shocked Penn State 34-13 and Komolafe piled up 188 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.
At receiver, Griffin Wilde has been another tough cover. He enters the Oregon game after a disciplined showing against Nebraska and has totaled 30 catches for 482 yards and three touchdowns in six games.
That combination gives Oregon another major hurdle if it wants to stay in the CFP race. The Ducks will likely need to run the table, and Northwestern is one of the hardest games left. Oregon and Northwestern met last season in Evanston, where the Ducks won comfortably 34-14.
Even though Oregon is unranked heading into Week 8, it still has two top-25 wins on the board, against No. 16 USC and No.
21 Boise State. A win over Northwestern, assuming the Wildcats take care of Rutgers and Oregon beats Illinois first, would give the Ducks another ranked victory to strengthen a resume that is already thin on margin.
According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Oregon currently has a 12.5 percent chance to make the CFP. Northwestern sits just ahead at 14.6 percent.
In Other News...
Oregon Suddenly Faces A Big Evan Stewart Question
Evan Stewarts status has become another uneasy subplot for Oregon, which is already managing his return from injury after he missed the recent game. The wide receiver was booked into Springfield Municipal Jail on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants and released about an hour later, turning what should have been a football-focused week into a fresh off-field concern for the Ducks.
Springfield Police also moved quickly to shut down the noise around the incident, saying rumors of street racing involving Oregon players were unfounded and that Stewarts arrest was not tied to a separate police pursuit. For a team counting on Stewart as part of its offensive mix after his recovery, the bigger question now is less about what happened in Springfield and more about how Oregon handles the situation from here. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Exposed A Nebraska Problem That May Get Worse
Oregons defense left Nebraska searching for answers after holding the Huskers to 242 yards on 67 snaps, a performance that exposed how much work still remains for an offense trying to find any rhythm. Anthony Colandrea finished 18 of 33 for 164 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 rushing yards and a score on the ground, but the passing game rarely found easy openings and the run game never really got going.
The bigger concern is how many different parts of the offense looked stuck at once. Nebraskas primary backs managed just 58 yards on 18 carries, injuries took a toll on both the offensive line and the backfield, and wide receivers had trouble separating against Oregons coverage. The line gave up only one sack but allowed five pressures and was flagged four times, leaving a problem that could get a lot harder to solve if the protection and health issues linger. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Left Wondering After Two Late Replay Moments Swung Everything
Nebraska spent the final minutes of its loss to Oregon wrestling with two replay moments that ended up defining the finish. The Cornhuskers had a touchdown catch by Kwazi Gilmer upheld after review, with officials saying there was not enough clear evidence to overturn the call, and the Ducks kept hanging around until they finally grabbed their first lead with 28 seconds left.
Isaiah Mozee then became part of the late-game frustration when a potential Nebraska fumble was not reviewed, leaving the Huskers in possession and the sequence unresolved in real time. For Oregon, it was another close escape in a game decided by a handful of snaps and a couple of calls that Nebraska will be replaying for a long time. [Read more 🡒]