Once again, the offense was far from the standard for the Oregon Ducks. After an excellent scripted opening drive that resulted in a touchdown, the Ducks were out of sync and made several questionable decisions in a 21-10 loss on the road to Illinois.
On Sunday morning, after returning to Eugene, Dan Lanning and the Ducks announced they were parting ways with offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, who was in his first season in the role after previously serving as Oregon's tight ends coach since 2022. In a statement that shared the news, Lanning did not immediately name a new play-caller moving forward.
Dylan Raiola had a statistically better performance than his last start, but he often threw short of the sticks and sailed easy throws to open receivers. The running game with Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. had success behind one of the best performances from the offensive line this season, but Mehringer often drifted away from the ground attack, and with a lack of consistency through the air, it wasn't long before the Ducks relinquished their early lead and were even shut out in the second half.
As the Ducks prepare to welcome red-hot Northwestern to Autzen Stadium on Halloween, one major change has been made, but the offense still has plenty of questions to answer.
Let's take a look at where the Ducks' scoring unit ranks nationally (including stats against both FBS and FCS opponents) after the Week 8 road loss to Illinois and after the team parted ways with Mehringer.
Scoring Offense: No. 40
Points per game: 33.1
Passing Offense: No. 24
Passing yards per game: 277.7
Rushing Offense: No. 88
Rushing yards per game: 145.4
Total Offense: No. 42
Total yards per game: 423.1
First Downs: No. 89
Total first downs: 144
Penalties: No. 60
Penalty yards per game: 54.4
3rd Down Conversions: No. 107
Third down conversion percentage: 35.4% (34-of-96)
4th Down Conversions: No. 77
Fourth down conversion percentage: 52.9% (9-of-17)
Red Zone Offense: No. 17
Red zone scoring percentage: 93.3%
Sacks Allowed: No. 40
Total sacks allowed: 11
Turnovers Lost: No. 114
Turnovers per game: 1.7 (12 total)
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Where Oregon Ducks' offense ranks nationally after Week 8 loss