15 notable quotes from Dan Lanning as Ducks prepare for late kick vs. Stanford Cardinal
A lot of coaches implement a “12-hour” rule for their team during the football season. In general, the rule states that after a game, whether it’s a win or a loss, you have that period of time to either celebrate the outcome or be frustrated by the performance. After that, it’s time to clear your memory and get set for the next game on the schedule.
This is a week where that absolutely needs to be the case for the Oregon Ducks. After pulling out a thrilling come-from-behind 44-41 victory on the road against Washington State, I’m sure the plane ride home from Pullman was quite enjoyable.
It’s time to get back to work though, and there are a lot of things to clean up.
To be completely honest, the Ducks should not have been in a position where they needed to come back against the Cougars. If not for some poor play and inexcusable mental mistakes, Oregon could have had a comfortable victory. Should they make those same mistakes this weekend against a dangerous Stanford team, it could be a different outcome.
On Monday night, head coach Dan Lanning met with media members to tie the knot on the WSU win and look ahead to the Cardinal. Here are some of the most notable quotes from that press conference:
Opening Statement:
Lanning: “First off, want to just congratulate Coach Ulmer and Coach Abel on their big wins with soccer and volleyball this past weekend. Always fun to see other sports do a really good job as well. Now, they have home games again this week that we’re excited to see. Also want to thank just everybody in the Pac-12 this past week for taking the time to honor Spencer by painting the tick marks. I think that’s really a really neat way to commemorate and remember a guy that obviously means so much to us. And all that being said, I said, you know, most of my thoughts right after the game, but excited to be able to walk away from a tough environment and a tough start with a win. And I’m really proud of our guys and their resiliency and how they finish that game. Certainly, a lot of stuff for us to grow on. And looking forward to playing a team that I have a lot of respect for and a coach that I have a lot of respect for in Stanford this week.”
The Stanford Challenge
Question: I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about the history between Oregon and Stanford. What type of challenge do they present to you guys?
Lanning: “Yeah, they are certainly different. They have their own footprint, and they’re a different team to prepare for. Some of the packaging and personnel groups, you have to get ready for. The way they just play, the style of play that they have is different. And again, they’ve had a lot of success. Obviously, over the last few years, we were able to hit on some of that history today with our team, you know, and I think our guys are really familiar with the success that Stanford’s had in the past and have a lot of respect for that team.”
Pac-12 After Dark
Question: Does a late 8 pm kickoff change a lot for you guys in terms of preparation?
Lanning: “We do a few different things. We kind of have all the schedules mapped out in advance based on when our kick is, back to when we go to bed the night before, and what that timing looks like. We have an activation left that we do the day of the game. So there’s a few things that we do a little bit different, just a little later kickoff.”
DJ Johnson
Question: Are you appealing the DJ Johnson targeting call?
Lanning: “It’s been appealed, and it’s been denied.”
Avoid a Trap Game
Question: How do you guys avoid overlooking a team like Stanford after getting a big win over Washington State?
Lanning: “We spend time this morning talking about really the variety of ways that we’ve won this season and the variety of teams that we play. I think you just kind of can continue on where do we need to grow. Where do we need to build for us to be a complete team? We’ve proven we can win in some different settings and some different ways, but this is a team that we have to bring our best for. It’s really just like I’ve said every week, it’s about Oregon and our improvement. And we have a lot of respect for this team. This team shortened our season last year. Some of the guys in our room, they still have a bad taste in their mouth for playing these guys before. That’s not far from their minds and playing to our best is so that’s really what we focus on.”
'Shout' Celebration
Question: Have you had a talk with your team about the level of celebration you want to see during “Shout?”
Lanning: “We talked to our team about it, I think they have an understanding of our expectations.”
Bo Nix's Improvement
Question: Who on the coaching staff deserves credit for Bo Nix improving and excelling in certain situations?
Lanning: “Kenny and I didn’t play a single snap on Saturday. Bo deserves credit for the way he performed. Our players deserve credit for the way that they perform in games. You know, he performed well. Does he have to take coaching, does he have to grow and improve? Absolutely. But he’s done that. He did what he needed to do in the game on Saturday. I promise you there are plays he wants back too. But I didn’t play a single snap, and either to coach Dillingham. Does that mean he was well prepared? Absolutely. He was, but he put in the work to be well prepared.”
Close Game Takeaways
Question: Do you feel like you learned a lot about your team after a close game like Saturday?
Lanning: I don’t know. I think each game that we’ve walked away from, I feel like I’ve learned something unique in each one. Obviously, that game to me was our DNA trait game. You know, we had to go out there and play a team in a rough situation where we had to really show some resiliency and there were moments of sacrifice and growth and toughness and all those things really showed up, the things that we talked about, connection. All those things really showed up in that game for us. I think you saw it firsthand as it played out. I’m sure there were a lot of people that didn’t really believe there at the end of the game, but I don’t think there was ever an ounce of doubt on our sideline. Which I certainly appreciate it because we needed all hands on deck. But we learned a lot from it. I think we’ve learned a lot from each game we’ve played in this year.”
Caught Looking
Question: Can you explain what happened on the play where Christian Gonzalez was caught looking at the sideline?
Lanning: “It was a trick play where they’re basically checking to see if we’re checking. At times if an offense changes their call and you don’t change your call defensively, they can catch what you’re in. They tried to simulate like they were changing their call offensively, and then they didn’t snap the ball. We can coach that better and do a better job of that on our sideline and we will. We’ll coach it better. Certainly, some way you don’t want to give a big play and something for us to learn from as a team.”
Bo Nix to Bucky Irving
Question: What were your thoughts on the 4th down pass from Nix to Irving at the end of the game?
Lanning: “That’s good players making good plays there. You’re 100% right when he does get a little bit overshadowed. I mean, that game is a completely different game if that fourth down doesn’t get converted. That’s an extended play. It didn’t happen clean like you anticipated happening when you call the play. The two guys did a great job of making a play there, and as well as the protection up front and other guys within the sequence of the play doing their job really made all those things work.”
Red Zone Execution
Question: What are some of the conversations you’ve had about cleaning up things inside the red zone?
Lanning: “We worked red area today. So it doesn’t take long. I think one of the things that this team has shown us is that there’s something that we’re not doing well we’re gonna work on it and work on ways to improve it. We focused on it, we talked about as a staff yesterday in ways that we can be better there. And we’ll continue to do the same. But we focused on it practice today and now it’s going to show up on the field that. We have to do that in practice first before we expect to have the results we want on game day.”
Stanford WRs
Question: Stanford has some really good wide receivers, how are you preparing your secondary for that group?
Lanning: “It’s a challenge that we’re excited for. I mean, these guys are big, they go attack the ball, down the field, and they do a good job of finding a one-on-one and then taking advantage of it. So we have to go win one on ones. We have to win one on ones in the perimeter. We’ll have to do more with less at times in the run game. They’ve certainly had some explosive runs when they do a good job of reading out their plays and seeing what’s there whether it be you know, run option or pass down the field. So it’s a good challenge for us.”
Troy Franklin
Question: At what point did it become clear to you that Troy Franklin could be such a big weapon for you?
Lanning: “For me, it’s watching him in spring ball. I think I always say that in here. What do you do on the practice field, it shows up on in games. I’ve seen Troy do that. The thing that I’m more proud of with Troy is what he’s done to help you know, grow his body. Right, his body composition has changed. He’s gotten bigger. He’s gotta continue to get bigger but I think that’s helped him be stronger and have better play strength. But you see some of those plays show up. There’s a drill that we call stumble bum here that we do that showed up on that very last play where he’s fallen to the ground and puts his hand down, and there’s an opportunity for ball security to be poor. You’ll watch him cross in the endzone with the ball covered up in the other hand, and that’s something that we take a lot of pride in coaching. And Troy did a good job of executing on the field, but what I would say is Troy’s doing what he does in practice and it’s showing up on game day.”
Chase Cota
Question: What have you seen from Chase Cota and his growth this year?
Lanning: “Chase has just proven to be trustworthy. We knew that coming to him that he was trustworthy. But he’s all about the team. And when the ball comes his way, he’s done a good job of making the play right, but he’s very reliable, and I think that shows up consistently from him and his play.”
Injury Updates
Question: Do you have any updates on Byron Cardwell, Steven Jones, or Caleb Chapman?
Lanning: “I’m not going to share anything on Steven. Byron again, when he’s able to do everything in practice, and we feel comfortable about his health, then he’ll definitely be a guy that I think can help us make contribute for us. Chap, I think is close to being able to be able to help us out there on the field. He’s certainly healthier now than he has been so he’s going to be able to go if he’s able to get it done in practice for us.”
