After a rough first two weeks of the season, during which Oregon struggled with FCS Idaho and then brushed with defeat against Boise State, the Ducks have found their groove. They’ve done so versus familiar faces, starting with an unusually-early game against the Pac-12’s Oregon State in Corvallis. Then they went to the Rose Bowl and took care of Pac-12-turned-Big Ten foe UCLA.

Although head coach Dan Lanning and his sixth-ranked Oregon squad will take its first real Big Ten plunge Friday night against longstanding conference member Michigan State, the Ducks will, again, get a taste of their old league in the process.

That’s because the Spartans are coached by Jonathan Smith and quarterbacked by Aidan Chiles, both of whom were previously at Oregon State.

“Yeah, I think it probably gives a benefit to both teams,” Lanning said Friday afternoon on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” when asked about the familiarity he has with Smith.

“Jonathan runs an unbelievable program. He’s done a really good job there. He continues to be aggressive and gives you pictures that are different from some other teams you’re going to see. But then he has that same thing that he’s going to see with us. So there’s a little bit of give and take where you can prepare for each other. But he’s got a new team, and we have a different team here as well.”

Smith posted a 25-13 record, including a 16-11 mark in Pac-12 play, over his final three seasons at Oregon State. That stretch included a 38-34 win over Lanning’s Ducks in 2022.

Chiles, however, didn’t start a game in his lone season at Oregon State. He arrived as the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 12 quarterback in the 2023 class and sat behind then-Beavers starter DJ Uiagalalei. That said, Chiles threw completed 24-of-35 passes with four touchdowns and no picks, plus three rushing scores, in nine games of action as a true freshman.

He followed Smith to Michigan State, where he became QB1 and has experienced a roller coaster start to his sophomore campaign. The Spartans are 3-2 with a Big Ten road win over Maryland under their belt. But Chiles has already thrown eight interceptions, as opposed to just five touchdowns, while completing only 56.3% of his passes. He’s been up and down, at times flashing great passing ability downfield, not to mention his three additional rushing touchdowns so far in 2024.

“Well, he’s a talented player, and he probably throws the ball down the field as well as anybody right now in college football,” Lanning said Friday, when discussing Chiles on “SportsCenter.”

“And he’s really elusive with his feet. What we have to do is try to be advantageous when the ball’s in the air, take advantage of some of those opportunities when they do throw it and try to go attack it.”

Michigan State is coming off a 38-7 loss to Ohio State. Oregon will face the Buckeyes next week — that’s when the Ducks’ run of strong Pac-12 ties will come to an end.

Oregon men’s basketball has made a late addition to its roster.

The Ducks landed Oleksandr Kobzystyi, a 6-foot-7 wing from Ukraine, who arrived at UO this week. Kobzystyi most recently averaged 2.3 points for Mega MIS in the Adriatic Liga ABA and also played for the Ukrainian under-20 and under-16 national teams.

Oregon coach Dana Altman said Kobzystyi’s agent reached out to find a potential landing spot for the college season and UO’s late start to the fall quarter presented an opportunity.

“We brought him in on a visit, really impressed with him, his mother,” Altman said. “Got a really good feel for the game, been well coached. He’s older, he’s only got a year left. He’s someone that we’re hoping we can get up to speed, because the guys have been there for eight weeks in the summer, so he’s way behind. Hopefully we’ll avoid injury, but if we don’t he’s someone that can really add to our depth.”

It’s not immediately clear how Kobzystyi’s addition fits into Oregon’s scholarship allotment, as the Ducks appeared to be using all 13 scholarships in 2024-25, though there could have been a change. Regardless, he adds further depth to a team that’s seen a high rate of injuries the past three seasons but has a healthy roster as it opens practice this preseason.

“I wanted to make sure that he understood (it) was an uphill climb because he was so far behind,” Altman said. “But I told him about our injuries the past seasons so he had to get ready and development was big to him. He’s like, ‘Well if I got a gym and I can get better.’ I think he’ll be a good addition. He’s only been to one practice; we just got him in school and got him cleared. I don’t know what he can do for us as a player but he sure is a nice young man and I look forward to working with him.”

Angelique S. Chengelis, Madeline Kenney, John Niyo, and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News predict the outcome of Friday’s Michigan State-Oregon game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (9 p.m., Fox/760 AM).

▶Angelique S. Chengelis: The Spartans are coming off a tough home loss to high-powered Ohio State and now play on the road against Oregon, which, after a bit of a slow start, has found a groove and ranks 34th in offense, averaging 454 yards a game despite not having the classic Oregon explosive plays. Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been efficient, and has thrown nine touchdowns against on interception, but he could have some trouble with MSU’s pass rush — the Spartans are second in the Big Ten with 15 sacks. Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles is a talent, but he’s young and has made some errors along the way this season. Those need to be cleaned up, and if they are, the Spartans stand a chance in any game. But this is on the road in one of the toughest, loudest venues. Pick: Oregon 34-10

▶ Madeline Kenney: Michigan State left Saturday’s loss to No. 3 Ohio State with the feeling that it left a lot of points on the board. The Spartans moved the ball early on and seemed to match the Buckeyes’ intensity out of the gates, but that momentum faded as a loaded Ohio State team wore Michigan State out. But come Sunday, the Spartans’ motto was to “flush” the loss and turn their focus to Oregon, an opponent Jonathan Smith knows all too well. It’s been engrained in Smith since his playing days at Oregon State to view the Ducks as a rival, but he said on Friday that he’ll have a neutral approach to Oregon this time around. If Michigan State can limit the turnovers, execute better in the red zone and get third down stops, then the Spartans might be able to make the Ducks sweat a bit. Oregon, on the other hand, had started the season off slow, but has improved each week. Dillon Gabriel has been ultra reliable, and the offense the past two games has seemed to have found its stride. Pick: Oregon, 34-17

▶ John Niyo: The schedule won’t let up, and neither will the injuries. That’s a huge problem for Michigan State as it hits the road for a second straight week against a top-10 team. The Spartans haven’t shown they can play mistake-free football, as only Auburn has committed more turnovers among Power 4 teams this season. And they’re not capitalizing on their opportunities, either, with only seven touchdowns to show for their 18 red-zone chances. That won’t get it done against an Oregon team that’s both talented and efficient. Even though the Ducks aren’t hitting the big plays, they’re doing just about everything else right, as Dillon Gabriel’s 82% completion rate shows. Pick: Oregon, 38-17

▶ Bob Wojnowski: The Spartans’ brutal schedule stretch continues, although No. 6 Oregon hasn’t been quite as explosive as expected. Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel is efficient more than anything, with nine touchdown passes and one interception. Just like last week against the Buckeyes, MSU can hang around if it can hang onto the football. The Spartans’ running game shows promise with Kay’ron Lynch-Adams, and receivers Jaron Glover and Nick Marsh can make big plays. All analysis about the Spartans at this point centers around QB Aidan Chiles, who can scare a defense and scare his own team, with eight interceptions. If the Spartans’ battered offensive line holds up and they run the ball, they can keep it moderately close. Pick: Oregon, 42-16

Michigan State at Oregon

▶ Kickoff: 9 Friday, Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Ore.

▶ TVradio: FOX/760

▶ Line: Oregon by 23 1/2