Oregon star linebacker named Big Ten defensive player of the week

Douglas Santo

Oregon star linebacker named Big Ten defensive player of the week image

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The Oregon Ducks have started the season 3-0 after a convincing 34-14 win at Northwestern to open up Big Ten conference play.

Although the Ducks gave up 14 points, all of them came in the final seven minutes of the game when most of the starters' days were done.

Oregon's defense put on another clinic on Saturday, and has now given up just 30 points through three games. One of the Ducks' leaders on defense was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week for his performance against Northwestern.

Jerry Mixon Earns Big Ten Honor

Oregon's junior linebacker Jerry Mixon was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week after he collected five tackles and an interception on Saturday against Northwestern.

After two years of development in the Ducks' system, Mixon is getting his chance to start in 2025 and making his impact felt.

The consensus three-star linebacker and top five linebacker in the state of California played in 19 games in his first two years at Oregon, but was limited to just eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack.

However, through three games in his junior year, Mixon has a career-high 10 tackles already, two interceptions, including a pick-six, a pass defended and a tackle for loss.

After making four tackles in the Ducks' season opener against Montana State, Mixon has an interception in each of the last two games.

The Ducks' linebacker will look to continue his hot start to the 2025 season in week 4 when Oregon faces its in-state rival Oregon State.

Douglas Santo

Douglas Santo is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. As a senior at Arizona State University, he will complete his B.A. in sports journalism with a minor in business in December 2025. Before his time with Sporting News, Douglas covered the NFL and MLB for Athlon Sports and contributed as a digital reporter for Arizona PBS/Cronkite News. He is also the head of Sun Devil Daily, managing all content produced about Arizona State Sports.