NCAA Football
2025-09-13 - Oregon Ducks at Northwestern Wildcats
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Week 3
Saturday 13th September 2025 - Scheduled 12pm
5pm (British Time)
Preview
The first season in the Big Ten Conference went as well as the Oregon Ducks (2-0) would have hoped as they won the Championship with an unbeaten record. That included wins over the likes of the then defending National Champions Michigan Wolverines as well as Ohio State and Penn State, but the season might have felt underwhelming when beating in the College Football Playoff as the Number 1 Seed.
That defeat was against the aforementioned Buckeyes in a rematch, a team who would go on to win the National Championship, and so motivation is high within the Oregon camp.
They have reloaded effectively and new Quarter Back Dante Moore has shown the benefits of sitting behind Dillon Gabriel and learning the Offensive plan last year.
Oregon are clearly a team on a mission and the blowout win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys will have certainly gotten the attention of the rest of the loaded, competitive Big Ten, as well as the very best teams across the nation.
The Ducks do not have to face Michigan or Ohio State in the regular season this time around, but they will want to keep the momentum behind them ahead of a rivalry game against Oregon State next week before closing out September with a road game at the Penn State Nittany Lions, the team that came into the season as the third favourite to win the Conference.
These are big challenges for the Ducks, but they will not want to overlook Northwestern Wildcats (1-1) in what is a very early start for Oregon.
It is the first true road game of the season, even if Northwestern are currently playing in a couple of homes while renovations continue at their real Stadium, and the early start is expected to offer some challenges. Head Coach Dan Lanning is not looking for excuses though and he is going to be hugely encouraged by what he has seen from the Ducks early in the season.
The Wildcats finished last season with a 4-8 record having overachieved in Head Coach David Braun's first season in charge, and they have already been well beaten by the Tulane Green Wave. A tough schedule suggests the Wildcats will do well to surpass the two Conference wins earned last season and they have lost starting Running Back Cam Porter to a season-ending injury.
Trying to establish the run would have been a plan for the Wildcats if only to give the Defensive unit a chance to rest and recover, but that would have been challenging even if Porter had been able to suit up.
All of the pressure could be on Quarter Back Preston Stone, who threw 4 Interceptions in the loss to the Green Wave, and he is almost certainly going to be put under pressure by the Oregon pass rush when throwing in this good looking Secondary.
Stopping the Oregon Ducks is going to be hugely challenging judging by what this Offensive Line has been able to do and Northwestern's Defensive Line have not really been very stout up front. Dante Moore's main task early on will be to hand the ball off to any of a number of Running Backs and allow the Offensive Line to punish the Wildcats on the ground, which in turn will open up his passing lanes as the game develops.
The Offensive Line have not only opened up big holes for the rushing plays, but they have kept the pocket clean for the Quarter Back and the limited Wildcats pass rush is not expected to rattle Moore.
It should mean another big win for the Oregon Ducks, who have outscored the first two opponents by 46 and 66 points respectively.
Blowouts on the road are much tougher to achieve, but Oregon did win a couple of road games by 35 points last season and they may reach that kind of margin in this one against a Wildcats team expected to have another year of difficulties.
Last season Northwestern finished with a 1-3 record against the spread as the home underdog and only a sleepy performance from the Oregon Ducks is expected to allow this game to be close.
Prediction
Lay the points with the road favourite in this Conference game.
The Pick :
Northwestern Wilcats 10-41 Oregon Ducks
