Oregon Considering Coaching Change After 21-10 Loss to Illinois

The Oregon Ducks are in crisis mode after the program has fallen from being No. 3 in the Associated Press' preseason poll to 4-3 after suffering a 21-10 loss to the Illinois Illini on Saturday at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

The Ducks offense had numerous starters out, but they had more than enough to be competitive against an Illinois team that parted ways with their defensive coordinator in September.

Oregon's result on offense wasn't an isolated incident. The Ducks have scored 83 points in their first four games against Big Ten teams, one fewer point than what they put up against Portland State in Week 3. 

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is looking at making serious changes to the program before playing No. 24 Northwestern on Halloween.

Per Ryan Clarke of The Oregonian, Lanning was asked about potentially making a change at offensive coordinator. Lanning said all things were on the table for the Ducks as Oregon is not playing its best version of football.

"We're currently not that," Lanning said. "That's very clear."

Lanning promoted Drew Mehringer to offensive coordinator during the offseason after Will Stein left to become the head coach of Kentucky. UK is ranked No. 12 before getting set to host Vanderbilt on Saturday night.

There were questions as to why Oregon would promote Mehringer to offensive coordinator before such an important season for the Ducks. With quarterback Dante Moore returning, Oregon was expected to compete for a national title.

Lanning could have gone out and hired an elite offensive coordinator to boost the Ducks' chances of winning the national championship. Instead, Oregon kept it internal, and the team is 4-3 before its final game in October.

The offense wasn't a total bust for Oregon on Saturday. The Ducks gained 426 total yards. However, Oregon was unable to convert drives into touchdowns. The Ducks settled for four field goal attempts and made just one of those.

Lanning and the coaching staff need to do some soul-searching about what they want to accomplish for the rest of the season. The Ducks are not playing up to their potential. In so many words, it's a wasted season for Oregon.

Lanning did acknowledge that amid the struggles the team has had this season, he has learned a lot. There's no reason to believe Oregon won't compete for a title with Lanning in the future. 

But this season will not be the one that Oregon finally wins its first-ever national championship.