The No. 16 Oregon Ducks (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) welcome a Michigan Wolverines team into Autzen Stadium on Saturday that’s undergoing a sudden, if not familiar, coaching staff shakeup designed to revive its stalled offense.

Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck on Nov. 8, one day after losing 15-6 to cross-state rival Michigan State (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten).

It’s a situation that hits close to home in Eugene for Oregon coach Dan Lanning, who dismissed Ducks offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer on Oct. 25 after falling 21-10 to Illinois. The Oregon offense has since come alive under the play-calling of assistant quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson.

If they’re not careful, Lanning warns that the Ducks could find themselves chasing similar ghosts on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon Ducks Prepare to 'Chase Ghosts'

Offensive line coach and assistant coach Jim Harding assumes play-calling duties for a Michigan team that began the year ranked No. 16 in the AP poll.

Lanning and the Ducks know better than to take the Michigan offense lightly following the coordinator change.

“It just makes you do a little bit of a deeper dive,” Lanning said. “When you’re trying to look to say, okay, what else could they pull out? And I think one thing you recognize about changes in college football is teams that have done that, experienced that recently.”

The Ducks coach pointed to other FBS programs that have made similar changes and their immediate impacts.

“They’ve kind of had a resurgence on offense,” Lanning said. “I mean, whether it’s a coaching change, there’s several programs that I showed that to our players today. Here’s programs that made changes at head coach or coordinator this season, and here’s what the next week looked like, or the next two weeks looked like.”

Oregon and Michigan aren’t alone when it comes to replacing offensive coordinators this season. They join a group that includes the recently dismissed co-offensive coordinator A.J. Ricker of TCU (Oct. 25), along with offensive coordinators Dana Holgorsen of Nebraska (Nov. 7) and Ben Arbuckle of Oklahoma (Nov. 2).

The Sooners defeated No. 24 Florida 23-7 on Nov. 7 in Gainesville after naming tight ends coach Jason Witten as interim offensive coordinator, posting 351 yards, including a 20-play, 89-yard touchdown drive.

“We’ve seen a lot of those teams have a lot of success,” Lanning continued. “And sometimes that’s not just because of a change. But there’s a spark that’s sometimes lit when those things happen.”

“So, we anticipate to see their absolute best, and then we’re going to have to chase ghosts a little bit and look for every answer that we might be able to find based on what might be different,” he added.

Oregon Ducks' Defense Faces New Challenge

The Oregon defense is coming off a performance in which the Ducks locked down Ohio State to the tune of 39 total yards in the second and third quarters.

But news reached Eugene on Monday that star outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti is out for the season with a knee injury that will require surgery.

The senior suffered the injury in the fourth quarter against the Buckeyes after a dominant game that saw him register two tackles, one for a loss, while throwing a 30-yard pass on a fake punt to fellow outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei.

He finishes the year with 44 tackles (22 solo) and 5.5 sacks, to go along with team highs in tackles for loss (nine) and quarterback hurries (eight).

If this is the end of Tuioti’s collegiate career, he’ll exit Eugene with 200 tackles (105 solo) and 36.5 tackles for loss, placing him ahead of former Oregon defensive end DeForest Buckner for tenth in program history.

Outside linebackers Nasir Wyatt and Elijah Rushing could see increased playing time in Tuioti’s absence as Oregon prepares to face a Michigan offense that mustered just 192 yards, six points and allowed five sacks to a Michigan State team tied for last in the Big Ten. Wyatt, however, was included on Oregon's first injury report as probable.

Among the challenges Lanning spoke of is game-planning for either quarterback Bryce Underwood or Tommy Carr. Oregon and Michigan aren’t alone when it comes to replacing offensive coordinators this season.

The challenge for Oregon will be preparing for the unexpected while moving forward without one of the Ducks’ most disruptive defenders.