The Ducks improved to 3-0 with a dominant 49-14 win over in-state rivals, the Oregon State Beavers. This was their first win in Corvallis since 2018 and the first time this year they looked like the championship-contending team they are expected to be.

Maryland crosses the river and hands Virginia its first loss, 27-13

The Terrapins crossed the Potomac River to play their neighbor-state rivals, the Virginia Cavaliers, who entered the game at 2-0. It was the 263 passing yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., and two interceptions by the defense that led Maryland to victory.

UCLA falls to Indiana, 42-13 in first Big Ten matchup

UCLA played their first Big Ten opponent since joining the conference and were met by a better team across the board in Indiana. With 307 passing yards and four touchdowns by quarterback Kurtis Rourke and a defense that held UCLA to just one touchdown, the Hoosiers improved to 3-0 with a win at the Rose Bowl.

Washington State stuns Washington 24-19

After falling just one score short of an upset last November, the Cougars returned to Seattle hungry for revenge. It was a back and forth affair all the way, and with the game on the line, the Cougar defense stood tall on 4th and goal to hand the Huskies their first regular season loss in almost two years.

No. 18 University of Notre Dame rebounds with 66-7 victory over Purdue

After a devastating upset at home in Week 2, the Fighting Irish responded boldly as they visited their in-state rivals Purdue and ran them straight off the field with eight touchdowns in the Boilermakers’ first loss of the season.

No. 4 University of Alabama dominates Wisconsin in Madison, 42-10

The Crimson Tide traveled to Wisconsin and handed the Badgers their first loss of the season. Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer is 3-0 at the University of Alabama thanks to 226 passing yards and six touchdowns from his offense, and a defense that forced four fumbles and held the Badgers to one touchdown.

No. 17 Michigan recovers with narrow 28-18 win over Arkansas State University

After suffering their first loss in over a year, the Wolverines came in hot as they jumped to a 28-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. No one knows better than Michigan alumnus Tom Brady that even a 28-3 game isn’t over until the clock hits zero. The Red Wolves began mounting a comeback in the final quarter, but were only able to come within ten points as the Wolverines stood strong enough to finish off the win.

Other Scores:

University of Northern Iowa: 3 – No 23. Nebraska: 34

Eastern Illinois University: 7 – Northwestern: 31

Troy University: 21 – Iowa: 38

Prairie View A&M University: 0 – Michigan State: 40

University of Nevada: 0 – Minnesota: 27

Central Michigan University: 9 – Illinois: 30

Storming into the Big Ten, the Ducks are getting a lot of attention. Head coach Dan Lanning and the rest of the staff did a lot of recruiting and acquiring from the transfer portal to build on their strong 12-2 season last year. 

One position that might be overshadowed by all the talent on the rest of the team is the running back room. The Oregon Ducks have two hungry running backs with a couple years of experience who will put them in the mix as they join the Big Ten.

The Ducks are working through the loss of their biggest standout running back, Bucky Irving, who was drafted by the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in April. This season, junior Jordan James is tasked with filling Irving’s shoes after an incredible breakout season of his own last year. 

James played in every game and rushed for 759 yards with 11 touchdowns on 107 carries. He averaged 7.09 yards per carry, which led the Pac-12 and ranked No. 10 nationally. 

James said going into this season he wants to build on what he’s already good at, show more long speed and to prove that he can “do it all,” just like any other back. He said he believes that no team should ever have to rely on one running back, and he’s excited to bring his teammates in the back field more action so they can ball together and go far. 

“I feel like they’re not talking about us enough, but we don’t care about that,” James said. Being moved to the top running back position did not change James’ work ethic, but it did make him attack harder and he’s looking forward to his new role. 

Another running back to keep an eye on this season is redshirt junior Noah Whittington. 

Whittington only played for a month last season before tearing his ACL in Week 4. In those four games, he had 20 carries for 148 yards and two touchdowns. When he went down, Whittington proved his strong nature when he got up on his own and attempted to limp off the field before the trainers escorted him to the injury tent. 

He said the hardest part was the mental piece of sitting out for almost the entire season, but he had a good work ethic in his rehab process. 

As hard as it was, Whittington said he’s appreciative that his injury happened, because it reminded him of how much he loves the game. 

Another change in Oregon’s running back room is on the coaching staff. Their previous running back coach, Carlos Locklyn, accepted an offer with the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier in the offseason. In the spring, Lanning hired Ra’Shaad Samples to replace Locklyn. Samples was the wide receiver coach at Arizona State in the previous two seasons. Before that, he was the running back coach at Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University and for the Los Angeles Rams. 

James and Whittington both said they have enjoyed working with their new coach and are looking forward to starting the season with him. 

Samples said to GoDucks that he is “tremendously excited and grateful to join Dan Lanning and his highly regarded staff at Oregon.” He added that at Oregon he has the opportunity to learn from some of the best minds in football and hopes to add value to the championship culture that Oregon is building. 

The Oregon Ducks assign a color theme to each of their football games every season. Most of the away games are assigned white, because in football the visiting team almost always wears white. 

This season, the only exception is the Week 3 game against the Ducks’ in-state rivals, the Oregon State Beavers. Despite the two teams no longer being in the same conference for the first time in over a century, one thing that has remained true in this matchup is that regardless of which team is hosting, the Beavers always wear orange and the Ducks always wear green.

The home games are spaced out mostly with green and yellow along with one or two blackouts and occasionally, a pinkout. The pinkout games have been designed to raise awareness of breast cancer. They won’t make an appearance for football this season, but women’s basketball and volleyball will likely continue the tradition.

The first game of the season against the Idaho Vandals will be a stripeout. This concept was introduced in last season’s Week 4 matchup against the Colorado Buffaloes. The student sections and all odd-numbered sections wore yellow, while the even-numbered sections wore green. 

This year, the stripeout will take place a month before the fall term begins, which means the student section won’t be very crowded. That said, the rest of Autzen is a sellout crowd and will be filled with green and yellow stripes.

It has become a tradition for the Ducks to assign blackout games to big matchups. Last season, the sole blackout came in the final game against the then-reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans.

 This season, fans will wear black for two games. The first will come in Week 2 against the Boise State Broncos. This is a 7:00 p.m. game, which means it will be under the lights and the night sky. The Ducks usually assign blackouts to night games, but sometimes aren’t able to when the game time is announced only a week in advance. 

The second blackout will be in Week 7. The time of that game has not been announced, but it is easily the biggest game of the season. The No. 3 ranked Ducks will be hosting the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time as conference opponents in the Big Ten. This game will play a major role in the standings for the College Football Playoffs and, regardless of the result, the two could play a second time in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The remaining home games are evenly split between green and yellow. Joining the Ducks in their move to the Big Ten are their all-time foe, the Washington Huskies. They will come to Autzen for the regular season finale to a sea of green as the Ducks look for their first win over the Huskies since 2021. Ducks fans will also wear green in their early November matchup against the Maryland Terrapins. 

In Week 6, the UO student body will finish its first week of fall term with a Friday night trip to Autzen where the crowd will highlight the stadium with yellow as the Michigan State Spartans come to town. Then, on Homecoming Weekend, the fans will be in yellow again as the Ducks host the Illinois Fighting Illini.

As the new colors of Big Ten opponents fill Autzen Stadium, one thing will remain the same: Oregon fans will be decked out in their finest gear, clinging to the edge of their seats in a pivotal season.