It is a long offseason, and with all that time–your favorite “Schedule-Maven” wanted to do a deep dive into each of Oregon’s 2025 opponents for our mutual edification, and entertainment. I learned quite a bit, and hope that these summaries will enhance your enjoyment of the Ducks’ upcoming season. Even Mr. FishDuck took some time from his fun at Thunderpick to look our new B1G foes with me.
WEEK 1 – August 30, 2025 – Autzen Stadium – Montana State Bobcats – Bozeman, Montana.
The Bobcats play football in the Big Sky conference as does Portland State. On the field, the Bobcats and the Vikings are in the same conference in name only. Portland State is bad. Montana State is ‘BAD’ as in GOOD. Very, Very Good.
Montana State is the only college program to win titles at three levels of competition: NAIA; NCAA DII; and FCS. In 2024-25, Montana State eclipsed OBD’s 13-1 record, finishing 15-1 with a 32-35 loss in the FCS Championship game to Missouri Valley Conference member North Dakota State.
The Ducks and Bobcats shared one common opponent in 2024:
Oregon 24 – Idaho 14
Montana State 52 – Idaho 19.
Bobcats quarterback, Tom Mellet, won the Walter Payton Award (the ‘Little Heisman’) in 2024. Fortunately, Tommy has used up his eligibility, and the presumptive 2025 starter at QB is Sophomore Chance Wilson, 6’3″ 180 lbs. from Owasso, Oklahoma. Wilson played sparingly in 2024, putting up 141 yards passing.
Famous Alum – Football Coach Dennis Erickson
Series Record: Oregon 1 – Montana State 0. On September 20, 1947. Oregon defeated Montana State 27-14. (I was six months old and have no recollection of this game.)
Montana State is not a sure-FCS-win cupcake. OBD will be breaking in a new starting QB, a new Right Tackle, and a new Left Tackle. Do not overlook these Bobcats. (I can’t Peel last season’s Potato Picker opener out of my head.)
Oklahoma State is looking to revive their program in 2025. (Photo Courtesy of Oklahoma State Football)
WEEK 2 – September 6, 2025 – Autzen Stadium – Oklahoma State Cowboys, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
When Florida State flamed out in 2024, and no one was happier than Cowboys coach Mike Gundy. One of the favorites to win the B12 in 2024, Oklahoma State finished with ZERO conference wins, 3-9 overall, and dead last in the conference.
The Somnambulant Seminoles helped hide the Comatose Cowboys conference game goose egg, and no bowl of soup for Gundy. But this did not prevent the Oklahoma State administration from cutting Gundy’s pay by $1M. Reportedly, Gundy took it Like A Man!
The Cowboys will ride into Autzen with a new OC and a new DC, and without stud running back Ollie Gordon II, one of the many Cowboys whose eligibility expired in 2024. Inexperienced Red Shirt Freshman, Hauss Hejny, who transferred in from TCU is expected to start at quarterback. Many of the 31 of the players who transferred in are expected to start. In a prove-it season for Gundy, he is starting over with the coaching staff and his players.
Oklahoma State and Gundy did catch a break with the 2025 schedule, the easiest in the B12. The Cowboys open at home against the UT Martin Skyhawks and should come into Autzen Won and 0, but Oklahoma State’s entire off-season focus will be on Oregon. Hopefully, Oregon will not take this game lightly.
Famous Alums – Garth Brooks and T. Boone Pickens
SERIES RECORD – Oregon 1 – Oklahoma State 0 – On September 30, 2008, OBD defeated the Cowboys 42-31.
Northwestern always has upset potential. (Photo Courtesy of Northwestern Football)
WEEK 3 – September 13, 2025 – Northwestern Wildcats – Evanston, Illinois – Medicine Field at Martin Stadium
With Northwestern‘s home field, Ryan Stadium, being renovated, I was hoping the Ducks Big Ten opener would be played in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Stadium, home of the Cubbies. No such luck. The game will be played in a high-school-like stadium, 12,023 capacity, on the banks of Lake Michigan; not the Cubs diamond digs but a beautiful setting nevertheless.
The Wildcats had a tough 2024 season finishing 2-7 in conference and 4-8 overall. This is the first of two 2025 trips that Oregon will make to the Central time zone and playing ‘in Chicago’ in September is favorable, compared to playing there in November. Coming off the opener at Tulane followed by Western Illinois at home, I expect the Wildcats to be 1-1 when OBD visits.
Northwestern will have a new starter at QB in 2025, Preston Stone, who transferred in from SMU. In 2023, Stone led SMU to the AAC title and what would have been a spot in the playoff if the playoff had expanded a year earlier. In 2024, Stone lost his starting job to Kevin Jennings, thus his transfer.
Northwestern chartered in 1851 when Illinois was the most northwestern state, is one of two private schools, (USC is the other) in the Big Ten. While occasionally breaking through for a conference football title, with limited resources and quality academics, the Wildcats are most often a B1G football afterthought.
Oregon fans will experience the new Ryan Field the next time they play, not this year. (Screenshot from Northwestern Athletics Video)
The ongoing renovation of Ryan Stadium will modernize the stadium but will reduce the seating capacity to 35,000, about 12,000 fewer than when the original Ryan Stadium opened in 1926. This will be the third game in a row where I expect the Ducks to be a double-digit favorite and will have to deal with complacency.
Famous Alums: Magazine Publisher (
) Hugh Hefner, and Lots of Wealthy Ryans.
SERIES RECORD: Northwestern 1 – Oregon 0 – October 5, 1974, Wildcats 14 – Ducks 10. Dan is the master motivator but I doubt he will use the Duck Egg vs. the Wildcats as a motivational tool.
That covers the first three opponents, and do keep checking FishDuck.com for another Duck-Dive into upcoming 2025 Oregon football opponents!
Can August 30th get here faster?
Jon Joseph
Aiken, South Carolina
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Jon Joseph grew up in Boston, Massachusetts but has been blessed to have lived long enough in the west to have exorcised all east coast bias. He played football in college and has passionately followed the game for seven decades. A retired corporate attorney Jon has lectured across the country and published numerous articles on banking and gaming law. Now a resident of Aiken South Carolina, Jon follows college football across the nation with a focus on the Conference of Champions and the Ducks.