Through the first eight games of the 2025 college football season, the Oregon Ducks have formed an identity. With a 7-1 record and their only loss to the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers , Dan Lanning's team has, at this point, shown that, in classic Oregon fashion, they have an excellent offense capable of providing endless explosive plays throughout a game.
However, Duck fans have also seen this year that the defense is among the best we've seen in recent Oregon history, most notably in the secondary, where they rank No. 1 in the nation in passing defense.
Across the board, Oregon ranks No. 5 in total defense, No. 7 in scoring defense, and No. 27 in rushing defense, standing near the top of the Big Ten in all of those categories. However, there is one area where they need to improve significantly: in the red zone.
So far this year, the Ducks have the worst red-zone defense in the nation, giving up points 100% of the time when opponents reach the 20-yard line, tying them for No. 133. Of course, Oregon does a pretty good job of keeping teams out of the red zone, giving up just 1.7 red-zone drives per game, which ranks No. 2 in the nation behind only Indiana.
But on the off chance that the defense does get pushed near the goal line, so far it's been a good bet they'll put points on the board.
"That's an area we want to improve on," head coach Dan Lanning said on Wednesday. "The benefit is we haven't let a lot of people get down there, but when they get down there, I think we can be a lot better. And we've gotten guys in some tight moments where we've been really close to being off the field. You know, we've held guys to field goals at times. But more importantly, we've got to make sure that we can go capitalize and make people not score."
So far, the Ducks have given up just 13.5 points per game, and it's been their defense that has led to their 7-1 record through the first two months of the season. The offense has at times struggled this year, particularly against above-average defenses, scoring just 17, 13, and 21 points against Penn State , Indiana, and Wisconsin .
There's room for improvement all across the board as Oregon prepares for a tough scheduling stretch over the next month, but when it comes to taking this defense up another notch, the improvement lies in the red zone.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion s.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks' last-ranked red zone defense major focus for Dan Lanning
