The team was led by third-year head coach Mark Helfrich and played their home games at Autzen Stadium for the 49th straight year.

Thomas Tyner underwent surgery on his left shoulder on August 7, 2015 and has not been included on the roster for 2015, he is going to miss the 2015 season and has not commented about his future as an Oregon Duck football player.

Offensive coordinator Scott Frost was hired by the University of Central Florida Knights football team on December 1, 2015.

In an interesting twist to an otherwise typical early season matchup against a local FCS power, Eastern Washington's former star quarterback Vernon Adams graduated in the summer of 2015 and transferred to the University of Oregon in order to pursue his graduate studies and utilize his final year of eligibility as the Ducks' starting quarterback.

This game foreshadowed the finger injury that would keep Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. sidelined or completely ineffective for a month.

Adams injured the index finger on his throwing hand during the fourth quarter of the previous week's game against Eastern Washington.

It was conjectured during the game by the announcers that the lack of touch caused by both his broken finger and the glove were to blame for several inaccurate medium to long distance passes thrown by Adams, including missing a wide open Byron Marshall in the end-zone from the Michigan State 33-yard line with 1:24 left in the game that would've put the Ducks up 35–31.

During the game, Oregon star wide receiver/running back Byron Marshall suffered a lower leg injury and was driven off the field in a cart.

In their first game playing as an unranked team since the 2009 season, the Ducks defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 41–24 at Folsom Field in Boulder.

Vernon Adams Jr. remained on the sidelines due to a broken index finger and the fact that he has sickle cell trait; Folsom Field is 5,360 feet (1,630 m) above sea level.

In his place, the Ducks ran a rotation at the quarterback position, playing both long-time backup Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie, a walk-on who won a 6A Oregon State Championship with Sheldon High School in Eugene.

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Tillman declined to sign a new contract with the Cardinals in order to enlist in the Army, eventually becoming a Ranger; he was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. at Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR Passing Rushing Receiving

In their ninth game of the season, the Ducks earned bowl eligibility by defeating the California Golden Bears 44–28 at Autzen Stadium.

With the win, Oregon remained in the Pac-12 North championship race until Stanford defeated California later that day to clinch the division title.