Notable quotes from Dan Lanning following second rivalry loss of 2022 season

It’s something we’ve said for years in Eugene, and definitely something that Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning was told coming into his first season with the team.

It doesn’t matter how many games you end up winning at the end of the year, as long as you can beat both the Washington Huskies and Oregon State Beavers, then there will be some sort of victory in there.

That’s something that Lanning was unable to do in the 2022 season.

Not only did Lanning drop a heartbreaker to the Huskies a few weeks ago, ending Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes, but the Ducks also choked against the Beavers on Saturday, taking away their sure-fire chances at a place in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Not a great look for a first-year head coach.

Fortunately, Lanning is young and able to learn as he goes. He wore this one on the chin and evaluated the loss afterward. Here are some of the most notable quotes from his post-game press conference.

Opening Statement

Lanning: “That’s a hurting locker room right now. I feel for the guys in there. Ultimately, a lot of moments led to that result. I have to give credit to Coach Smith, his team, they came out prepared for a whole game. We played about half a game or 2/3 of a game. We didn’t play enough of a game to finish that game. There were some big momentum plays that really swung their way. We probably didn’t create enough of those. We won the takeaway battle but when you get blocked punts and drop a punt, have some big plays in the kicking game. Obviously, those took big effect. We weren’t able to stop the run. They were more physical than us up front, they took advantage of that. Try to get extra hats down there in the run we weren’t able to be successful there. Credit to them, big win for them, opportunity to grow for us. Time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work.

Punting Unit

Question: Have you seen this year that your punting unit could be a potential disaster?

Lanning: “It matters the most when it matters. I don’t know if you ever sit there and prepare for disaster but it’s not the standard. It showed up in this game, we had some issues. Those don’t all belong to the punter, we had some issues with protection, I’ll have to look back and see what the operation time was. Whenever you’re not consistent, and that’s not a strength of yours, that showed up tonight. They were much better on special teams than us tonight.”

Fourth Down

Question: Do you reconsider any 4th down thoughts after this game?

Lanning: “No, I mean, we’ll have to go back and look at the plays. We’ve been aggressive in our nature a majority of the year and it’s worked for us. I think we also look back and say okay it’s fourth down, you’ve had two punts that went completely disarray, I like my chances of running the ball and getting it rather than lining up for another punt that maybe won’t be successful.”

OSU Running Game

Question: What was it about OSU’s running game that made it so difficult to defend?

Lanning: “We had poor gap controls at times. We tried movements, we tried a couple different things as far as getting hats in the box but again, I think when you go back and look at it you’re going to see a team that was more physical at the point of attack than we were. We were getting movement up front, we weren’t owning our gap, they were. Their runners did a good job of running forward and falling forward.”

Complacency

Question: Do you feel like you guys got complacent in that game?

Lanning: “I don’t think players got complacent or people got complacent or the team got complacent. We lost on the details. I think you can go back and say okay, this is what my job is and this play you’re going to see one person not executing this the right way. You’re going to see one play that went wrong and those little things add up and become big things, those small details.”

Nix Injury

Question: How do you think Nix’s injury has impacted the rushing attack?

Lanning: “I think it’s been a little bit more of a challenge. I think anyone watching can see that. I think we have to find some creative ways and I think there were some moments where we were able to fight off some tough runs. But certainly a different game, we have to find ways to do it.”

Bo's Performance

Question: How do you think Bo performed today?

Lanning: “I thought he felt comfortable at times. I think he’ll come back here and tell you that he missed a couple passes that he wished he could have had. There’s some moments, he probably wouldn’t have pulled it on the fourth down. I think if he handed that, he’d feel a lot better. That being said, Bo’s been a consistent leader for us all year. He’s playing in a tough situation right now, he’s showed a lot of heart to do that. He’s been our leader all year and certainly proud of him and his effort.”

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire