First practice of the 2022 college football season on the horizon for Oregon Ducks

Wednesday marked 30 days until the highly anticipated 2022 Oregon football season kicks off and two days until that start of fall camp for the Ducks.

For rookie coach Dan Lanning, it was also a good time to reflect on what was possibly his last victory of an eventful offseason.

At a team function Tuesday night, Lanning and defensive analyst Connor Boyd pulled off an upset as they defeated quarterbacks Jay Butterfield and Ty Thompson in a best-of-three cornhole showdown.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” Lanning joked during Oregon football media day Wednesday morning at Autzen Stadium. “Jay Butterfield might be the best cornhole player I’ve ever seen first hand. It’s amazing.”

While Lanning hopes the fun doesn’t end Friday when the Ducks conduct their first practice of the 2022 season, life will definitely get more serious as Oregon builds up to the season-opener against national champion Georgia on Sept. 3 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

“Our players have been working their tails off this summer,” Lanning said. “If there’s one thing about being a college football player in today’s day and age, you don’t get a lot of time. Our players realize it’s hard work and I’m grateful for them for what they’ve put in. You know, the sweat in the bucket that’s required to be successful in college football.”

Lanning knows a thing or two about success at an elite level.

Last season he was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, and though he took the Oregon job in December, he coached his Georgia players through their 33-18 national championship game victory against Alabama on Jan. 10.

Playing into January is also his plan for the Ducks.

“I’ve been hired here to win football games,” Lanning said. “I know that’s where I’m going to be measured at. … I feel confident that we have a roster here that if we do a good job of developing we’re going to be in position to win every game.”

Oregon went 10-4 last season, losing to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game and to Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Lanning said he has 54 players in their first season at Oregon, including a handful of transfers who all have the potential to be impact players in quarterback Bo Nix (Auburn), running backs Mar’Keise Irving (Minnesota) and Noah Whittington (Western Kentucky), cornerback Christian Gonzalez (Colorado), wide receiver Chase Cota (UCLA), and defensive lineman Taki Taimani (Washington).

“A unique group,” Lanning said. “For us, anyone that we bring into our program, the first thought is, can they actually enhance out program? Can they help us win games? I feel really confident and all of those guys have a variety of experience and all of them have been exposed to real football.”

Oregon’s offseason also included the death of junior tight end Spencer Webb, a popular teammate and gregarious locker room presence who died on July 13 during an outing at Triangle Lake when he fell and hit his head.

“There’s not a day that goes by that our program doesn’t remember Spencer, and there won’t be a day going forward that we don’t remember Spencer,” Lanning said. “We start every team meeting off recognizing him. It’s the first thing we do. That’s not gonna change. We want to live a life worth living and make sure we do it in honor of him and I think that’s one thing our players have really embraced. There’s gonna be days where football’s hard, but there’s work to be done.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks football ready for start of 2022 fall camp