The No. 12 Oregon Ducks (5-1, 3-0) look to improve on their penalty woes and lick their wounds from the former half of their 2022 season as they head into their bye week. Fresh off a 49-22 annihilation of the Arizona Wildcats (3-3, 1-2), Oregon secured its first victory in Tucson, Arizona, since 2011. This game extended the Ducks’ win streak to five games as they prepare for the latter half of their schedule, which features No. 11 UCLA and No. 20 Utah, along with two rivals in the Washington Huskies and Oregon State Beavers.

In their season and home openers, the Ducks committed five penalties in each contest for a combined total of 87 penalty yards. Their opponents committed 12 penalties for 127 yards total.

Oregon’s play got sloppier in the two contests that succeeded. Their penalties per game increased from five to eight.

Against Brigham Young University, the Ducks infracted eight penalties for 48 yards to BYU’s seven for 64 yards. When they faced the Washington State Cougars, Oregon surrendered eight penalties for 87 yards to the Cougars’ five for 27 yards.

There was some efficiency here, but not the kind that the Ducks’ wanted or needed.

On a lower note, the Ducks’ penalty woes worsened versus Stanford University. Oregon nearly doubled their penalty totals from the previous two games (BYU and Washington State) as they committed an astounding 14 penalties for 135 yards. That’s more yards than Stanford had rushing (127) all game.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was bombarded with questions throughout press conferences the week of the Arizona game. Reporters inquired on how he and his staff will improve this troublesome statistic throughout the rest of the season.

“We’re working on it. There’s accountability for every single penalty we had today at practice… We’ll keep growing from it,” Lanning said in an Arizona preview conference. “We can’t be a team with self-inflicted wounds and have the success that we want to do.”

While the Ducks infracted six penalties for 56 yards, the Wildcats committed three penalties for 11 yards, but that can be expected when playing on the road in a raucous atmosphere.

Nevertheless, those numbers are progressing in the right direction, a sign that Lanning’s practice regiments are working and the team has reciprocated.

The Ducks are tied for 114th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in fewest penalties with 47 infracted this season. They also rank 115th in penalty yards thus far.

Oregon will look to keep to clean up its penalty issues as it faces a gauntlet of quality teams to end this season. Check out the No. 12 Ducks’ next ranked matchup when they battle the No. 11 UCLA Bruins (6-0, 3-0) and legendary Oregon head coach Chip Kelly on Saturday, Oct. 22.