Because of the significant number of injuries to the offensive line in 2014, the Ducks feature a large number of returning offensive linemen who have started in at least one game in a previous season.
Thomas Tyner underwent surgery on his left shoulder on August 7, 2015 and has not been included on the roster for 2015, he is going to miss the 2015 season and has not commented about his future as an Oregon Duck football player. Stetzon Bair, Devon Allen and Darren Carrington are also uncertain about their return to the team in 2015.[3]
Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich returns in his third year as Oregon's head coach following season.
The Ducks continue to have the longest tenured staff of any college football program in the United States. Six of the ten assistant positions are staffed by men who have coached at Oregon for over ten years, four of whom have over 25 years of experience as Oregon assistant coaches.
Referee: Land Clark Umpire: Matt Jordan Head Linesman: Bob Day Line Judge: Jeff Robinson Back Judge: Justin Nelson Field Judge: John Morton Side Judge: Bernie Hulscher Scorekeeper: John Love
UO – Aidan Schneider, 2/2 FG, 38-yard long, 7/7 PAT
special teams
EWU – Simba Webster, 3 KR, 70 yards
UO – Byron Marshall, 3 KR, 99 yards
†Neither ESPN nor the Pac-12 recorded EWU defensive statistics.
In their first game of the 2015 season, the Ducks defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles 61–42 in the teams' first ever matchup in football.
In an interesting twist to an otherwise typical early season matchup against a local FCS power, Eastern Washington's former star quarterback Vernon Adams graduated in the summer of 2015 and transferred to the University of Oregon in order to pursue his graduate studies and utilize his final year of eligibility as the Ducks' starting quarterback.
Referee: Michael Batlan Umpire: Rick DiBernardo Linesman: Dan Antonietti Line judge: Rich Troyer Back judge: Joe Johnston Field judge: Steve Currie Side judge: Michael Marsh Center judge: Randy Campbell
This game foreshadowed the finger injury that would keep Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. sidelined or completely ineffective for a month. Adams injured the index finger on his throwing hand during the fourth quarter of the previous week's game against Eastern Washington. For the game against Michigan State, Adams wore gloves on both hands and was seen inspecting his hand while on the sideline. It was conjectured during the game by the announcers that the lack of touch caused by both his broken finger and the glove were to blame for several inaccurate medium to long distance passes thrown by Adams, including missing a wide open Byron Marshall in the end-zone from the Michigan State 33-yard line with 1:24 left in the game that would've put the Ducks up 35–31.[16]
Oregon defeated the Georgia StatePanthers 61–28 in its final non-conference home game of the 2015 season. This game was the first meeting between Oregon and Georgia State.
Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. did not start in this game due to a broken index finger on his throwing hand, Jeff Lockie, the longtime backup to Marcus Mariota, started in his place.
In their first Pac-12 game of the season, the Ducks lost in historic fashion to the UtahUtes by a score of 62–20. In 2014, Oregon defeated Utah 51–27 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT. Oregon maintained their lead in the all-time series with 20–9; this was the first time that Utah defeated Oregon since joining the Pac-12.
The 42 point loss was the third largest margin of defeat for the Ducks at Autzen Stadium, with the 62 points the most ever allowed by the Ducks in Eugene and the first loss of this magnitude at home since the 1977 season. During the game, Oregon star wide receiver/running back Byron Marshall suffered a lower leg injury and was driven off the field in a cart. Additionally, during the second quarter the Ducks replaced starting quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr. with Jeff Lockie due to Adams' ineffective play caused by a broken index finger on his throwing hand. Because of the broken finger, Adams was unable to complete accurate downfield passes which allowed the Utes to totally focus on defending the run and short passes, effectively neutralizing the Oregon offense. While Lockie was able to generate a spark on his first series, he was unable to generate significant plays.[19]
UO – Aidan Schneieder, 2/2 FG, 39-yard long, 5/5 XP
UC – Diego Gonzalez, 1/1 FG, 52-yard long, 3/3 XP
special teams
UO – Charles Nelson, 4 KR, 144 yards
UC – Donovan Lee, 1 KR, 24 yards
In their first game playing as an unranked team since the 2009 season, the Ducks defeated the ColoradoBuffaloes 41–24 at Folsom Field in Boulder. The win extended Oregon's lead in the all-time series to 12–8; they remained undefeated against the Buffaloes in Pac-12 play.
Vernon Adams Jr. remained on the sidelines due to a broken index finger and the fact that he has sickle cell trait; Folsom Field is 5,360 feet (1,630 m) above sea level. In his place, the Ducks ran a rotation at the quarterback position, playing both long-time backup Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie, a walk-on who won a 6A Oregon State Championship with Sheldon High School in Eugene.
In their first division game of the season, the Ducks lost to the Washington StateCougars 45–38 in Autzen Stadium in double overtime. The loss marked their first season with multiple home losses since the 2007 season. Oregon maintained their lead in the all-time series with 49–37-7.
Oregon defeated their rival, the WashingtonHuskies, 26–20 for the twelfth year in a row at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The game featured a healthy Vernon Adams Jr. playing for the Ducks for the first time since their first game of the season; in 2014, Adams almost led his former Eastern Washington team to a major upset of the Huskies, throwing for seven touchdowns and accounting for just under 500 yards from scrimmage. Despite the win, Washington maintained their overall series lead, 58–46–6.
In their sole Thursday night game of the season, the Ducks defeated the Arizona StateSun Devils 61–55 in a thrilling and at times controversial triple overtime game in Sun Devil Stadium. The win extended Oregon's active win streak over the Sun Devils to seven, though they did not play in 2013 or 2014, and their lead in the all-time series to 18–16.
The jerseys worn by the Sun Devils all bore the name Tillman in order to honor Arizona State alumnus Pat Tillman. Tillman played safety for the Sun Devils from 1994 to 1997 and was drafted 226th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 1998 NFL Draft. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Tillman declined to sign a new contract with the Cardinals in order to enlist in the Army, eventually becoming a Ranger; he was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.
In their ninth game of the season, the Ducks earned bowl eligibility by defeating the CaliforniaGolden Bears 44–28 at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks extended their 6-year win streak over California; however, the Golden Bears maintained their all-time series lead, 39–37–2.
STAN – Conrad Ukropina, 3/4 FG, 49 yard long, 3/3 XP
special teams
UO – Charles Nelson, 3 KR, 59 yards
STAN – Christian McCaffrey, 2 KR, 60 yards, 1 PR, -5 yards
Oregon defeated the 7th ranked StanfordCardinal 38–36 on the road in Stanford Stadium. Despite the win, the Cardinal maintained their lead in the all-time series, 46–32–1.
Oregon defeated the USCTrojans 48–28 at home in their 8th win of the year. With the win, Oregon remained in the Pac-12 North championship race until Stanford defeated California later that day to clinch the division title. The Trojans maintained their lead in the overall series, 37–20–2.
OSU – Victor Bolden, 1 PR, 78 yards, TD, 5 KR, 108 yards
UO – Charles Nelson, 4 KR, 99 yards
Oregon defeated their in-state rival, the Oregon StateBeavers, 52–42 at Autzen Stadium to earn their eighth straight victory in the 119-year-old series. The Ducks extended their lead in the all-time series 63-46-10.
^The classes referenced above are the classes of the individual during the 2014 season, for example Marcus Mariota will be a Redshirt Junior in the 2014 season.
