Key quotes from Dan Lanning's press conference ahead of the Wisconsin game

Oregon Ducks' Resurgence and Looking Ahead

The Oregon Ducks took a tiny step back last weekend in their first loss of the season, but they got back on track Saturday against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. They dominated the game from start to finish, with the exception of their first drive, which ended in a fumble. There were still a few things for the Ducks to clean up, but it was by far their most complimentary game of the season. The offense could not be stopped and the defense was stifling all night long as they repeatedly turned Rutgers over and made things difficult.

Oregon will head back home to Eugene now to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in a contest that should be much of the same as the Ducks appear to have their groove back. Let’s take a look at what head coach Dan Lanning had to say in his weekly press conference, reflecting on the Scarlet Knights game and looking ahead to the Badgers.

Opening Statement

Dan Lanning:
All right, good to be back in Eugene. Certainly excited about the opportunity to be in front of our fans again this week. I know they'll have a great turnout. It's good to have a little bit later game as well. I think that’ll give us an opportunity to get some more players here, to be able to see us also, but ultimately, an exciting opportunity for our players to continue to level up and raise our standard. You know, there's a lot of things that Wisconsin actually does really well. Their special teams play, defensive play has been really good. And you look at offense, you know, they've been affected by injuries. But there's just, you watch the film, they're like, What? Man, The ball bounced the wrong way on this play. They've just been kind of unfortunate bad luck on some some plays. But you see a team that's capable of having a lot of success. They're really well coached, got a lot of respect for Coach Fickell and the job they do, they stress you in a couple different ways. It'll be a good challenge for our team so excited about this matchup and a chance for our guys to go compete.

Slow Start, Fast Finish

Q:
How were you guys able to bounce back after the fumble to start the game?
Lanning:
Yeah, I mean, you know we talked about starting fast, and we kind of started fast in the wrong direction, but I do think they had good response, and I really liked the energy that our team had throughout. That was kind of a good punch in the mouth really early. But for the guys to come out there and the defense to put out the fire, hold them to a field goal there, and then the offense respond and be able to create a real positive drive. That next drive was a big, big positive.

New Roles

Q:
What has Brock [Thomas] shown that gave him the No. 2 quarterback role?
Lanning:
Yeah, just, you know, over time, he's done a really good job in practice, he’s operated well, those guys have also done a really good job as well. But there's not anything necessarily that Brock hasn't done to earn those reps. He's earned them in practice. We talk about rent’s due in football every single week, and he's been a guy that's been paying rent and doing what he's supposed to do.

Challenged Ahead

Q:
What makes the Wisconsin defense so effective under coach Fickell?
Lanning:
It’s probably one of the best defenses when it comes to disguise. And what it looks like pre snap is going to look different than what it looks like post snap. They do a great job of stopping the run, right? They game plan your runs really well. And I think that's a big piece of it. They make sure they get the extra hat where necessary, and then they do a good job avoiding explosive plays. So it's really sound, it's difficult. They pitch different looks to you. There's different guys that can pressure, unconventional pressures at times, which makes it a real challenge.

Shuffling Pieces

Q:
Are Austin [Novosad] an Luke [Moga] available?
Lanning:
Yeah, but just like I just said, Rent’s due every single day. These guys earn in practice. We don't care, your status, stars, like that part doesn't matter. You earn reps throughout what you do in practice. And we've had a lot of guys who have done that. Brock's done a really good job. Luke and Austin have done a really good job. We feel like those guys can go win games for us as well. And who knows that role might change in the future, right? But right now, you know, Brock has earned those opportunities in practice.

Defensive Dominance

Q:
How did you think the defense looked?
Lanning:
Yeah, I thought the communication was in a different level. I thought they did a really good job of recognizing what we anticipated the looks being and be able to handle those looks, and even when the looks changed, being able to go through that. I thought the coaches did a really good job preparing those guys as well. And more than anything, I think they showed their physicality up front.

Running Back Bruiser

Q:
How are you feeling about where Noah [Whittington] is at right now?
Lanning:
Yeah, I've got such a high level of trust in Noah. He's an unbelievable teammate. He works extremely hard. The thing I was, you know, it's not going to show up in the stat sheet, but the thing I was really proud of is the way he carried the ball. His ball security was super impressive throughout the game. You know, I mean, even that long run you see the ball tucked up really tight to his chest. I think that's a huge point something we tried to coach really, really hard, and Noah's been a guy that's accepted that. And it was multiple plays, and every play you saw him make in the game, it's like, okay, I've seen that happen on the practice field. There was a lot of that from him, but when he's healthy, he's really dynamic and a great teammate and great player for us.

Facing a Brick Wall

Q:
How will you generate explosive plays and explosive runs against a stout Badgers defense?
Lanning:
That's it. You got to game plan it right, and that's the process we're going through right now as a staff, trying to figure out, where can we create those and [sometimes a four-yard run can be just as impactful.] You're not always going to have explosive runs against a team like this. So we got to try to find out if we can find some of those, manipulate some of those opportunities, but take what the defense gives you as well, right? So if they're heavy to the run, that may give you more opportunities to be able to throw the ball as well.

Protecting the Quarterback

Q:
What did you think of the offensive line and the job they did protecting compared to last week?
Lanning:
Yeah, it just means everybody's working in sync. And I don't think we were in the game before, in this game, we were. Like I said, I thought we had a really clear plan. It was a good plan. I thought our players executed that plan to a really high level. And then Dante, I thought, made good decisions. There were times he threw it away in the game, and I think those were good decisions to be able to throw it away and get to the next play. We didn't really do that the week before.

Adjustments on the fly

Q:
What was the thought process behind shifting the offensive line and what did you see from the new combination?
Lanning:
Yeah, we just continue to look at strength in numbers, right? I think we had 67 guys playing this last game. I want to say we traveled just over 70 to the game, right? So as many guys as we can, we want to be able to see them in different spots, in different locations, because injuries can happen in the season. You know, much like Wisconsin's faced this season, and we will make sure guys are ready for opportunities when injuries happen, to look at guys at different positions.

Keeping Them Guessing

Q:
What’s the challenge like when you don’t know which starting quarterback you’ll face?
Lanning:
Yeah, you got to prepare for all of them, and then they're all a little bit different, right? There's a little bit more run game with 18. It's a little bit different offense with each but you know, they do have an identity and what they try to do regardless who's in there. So we just have to be aware of which guy is on the field and what it looks like.

Starting Kicker

Q:
What is going on with the kicker situation?
Lanning:
Yeah, we just felt like it was a good opportunity to get a young guy a chance at one and one that we anticipate him being able to make, and obviously didn't go in but that's good experience for guys, you know, similar to, you know, punt returner, we had Dakorien back there. You know, [Gary Bryant Jr.] has consistently been our punt returner. But like, again, strength of numbers, how many guys can we develop in moments like that?

Kenyon Sadiq Showcase

Q:
How do you plan on using Kenyon Sadiq against Wisconsin?
Lanning:
His involvement had a little bit more with his availability in practice the week before. It wasn't as much availability for him, but he was available last week in practice, and allowed us to be able to attack him. And again, it's also predicated on what the defense is doing. Right? There were opportunities there.

Cornerback Depth

Q:
How big was it to get Na’eem Offord some reps?
Lanning:
Yeah, Na’eem is a great example of a guy who’s been developing over time and getting better and better and where he might not have been completely ready at the moment. As the season started, he's gotten better and better, and he had a great week of practice. And it goes back to everything I've said this entire time of when you perform in practice, you get opportunities in the game. He performed well in practice this past week.

Injury Update

Q:
What is Jayden Limar’s status?
Lanning:
Yeah, he's out. He's gonna be out for a little bit, but I don't anticipate being a really long time.

New Threads

Q:
What are your thoughts on the Grateful Dead jerseys and how familiar are you with them?
Lanning:
Yeah, I'll tell you that the jerseys don't look like they initially looked. We changed that, so you could just imagine a one at a different level. And it's been toned back a little bit, but exciting to have that opportunity when you start to dig into the history of the Grateful Dead, playing over 20 shows here, their involvement with the university, how it created revenue, obviously an innovative, think outside the box group, and what they were able to do here in the Eugene community is pretty cool. So I'm gonna have to spend some time to listen to them. I haven't done a good job of that yet, so maybe I can turn that on my late drive home tonight.

Complicated Games

Q:
How do you measure success in a game with so many moving parts?
Lanning:
Yeah, success for us is defined by our standards, right? It's not as much about the opponent. It's about our expectation for our level of play, regardless of who goes out there. And again, like in a game like this, you might have to have multiple answers and multiple rules. When you play a game, you don't know exactly what you’ll see.