Oregon fires offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer after three straight games of 17 points or fewer

Oregon fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer on Sunday morning, the school announced, after the Ducks lost 21-10 at Illinois on Saturday. It was their third loss of the season and their third straight game with 17 points or fewer. ESPN's Pete Thamel and The Oregonian's Ryan Clarke also reported the dismissal.

Head coach Dan Lanning thanked Mehringer in a statement and said, "I believe a new direction is necessary to move our offense forward." Lanning did not say who will call plays for the rest of the season.

Lanning's bet didn't hold

Mehringer joined the staff as tight ends coach in 2022 and was promoted this year after Will Stein left for Kentucky. Lanning picked continuity. The numbers went the wrong way fast: Oregon went from a top-20 rushing offense and a top-10 scoring offense to 88th in rushing and 40th in scoring, according to ESPN.

Lanning had pushed back on blaming one coordinator after the loss to Oklahoma State. "We have to go execute plays," he said then. After the home loss to UCLA two weeks ago he said the whole offensive approach needed a look, including the playcalling and preparation. Twenty-four hours after Illinois, he made the change himself.

The quarterback mess didn't help

Starter Dante Moore has been out since a concussion against USC in Week 4. Since then Oregon has rotated backup Dylan Raiola and third-stringer Brock Thomas, and the shuffling nearly cost the Ducks the Nebraska game. Raiola played all of Saturday's game at Illinois and the offense still managed only 10 points. Oregon has turned the ball over 10 times in three games since the USC win.

Where it leaves Oregon

This was a team that opened the season ranked No. 2 with title hopes. At 4-3, the College Football Playoff talk is over unless the offense changes fast, and a midseason coordinator firing is about as loud a signal as a head coach can send. Watch for who gets the play sheet this week and whether Moore is cleared to return.