We’ve got plenty of time to get into the hypocrisy of Oregon coach Dan Lanning, but first watch the video.
The play is dead, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava is on the ground, ball firmly tucked in his belly. And he’s clearly in pain.
And then — THEN — Oregon defensive lineman Bear Alexander takes a swing at Iamaleava’s head/neck area.
Wait, that’s a disservice to this dirty play. So let’s further explain.
Watch the video. Take a long, hard look at it.
Alexander chased the play and made the tackle, and was on his back, his left arm around Iamaleava’s midsection. Alexander’s momentum then pushes his back off the turf, but his backside is still on the turf.
He knows Iamaleava is on the ground. The play is over.
Then Alexander fully cocks his right arm,
and takes a full swing. Dirty.
It is here where we reintroduce Lanning, who nearly three days after his team's loss to to UCLA says it was a “ball shot” and Alexander won’t be suspended. This, of course, is two weeks after Lanning labeled a late hit on Ducks quarterback Dante Moore “disgusting” — and said the hit from Southern Calfiornia linebacker Desman Stephens II, “certainly could’ve been avoided.”
The Stephens hit was dirty. So was Alexander’s.
The crazy thing is, Lanning actually said as much Tuesday. Yep, walked right into it.
While explaining the staff teaches the smart and legal process of punching the ball from a ball carrier’s hands to force a turnover, he admitted of Alexander’s hit, “Obviously, it’s late, and it’s not the way it needs to be done. And wasn’t executed the right way.”
Or the same exact scenario with Stephens.
His hit on a sliding Moore was late, and not the way it needs to be done. And it sure as hell wasn’t executed properly.
The difference between the two, apparently, is Lanning said Alexander told him, “I wasn’t trying to hurt the guy.”
So Stephens was trying to hurt Moore with his late, dirty hit, but Alexander’s late, dirty hit just “wasn’t executed the right way” — so he doesn’t deserve a suspension. Of any kind.
I’m spitballing here, but maybe the lack of punishment has something to do with Nebraska arriving in Eugene Saturday. The same Huskers who gave defending national champion Indiana everything it wanted last weekend, before losing late.
The same Huskers who had nearly 400 yards of offense against Indiana’s stout defense, including 128 rushing. That Nebraska offense working an Oregon defense that knew UCLA wasn’t a threat to throw consistently — even with Iamaleava — yet still gave up 120 rush yards to mighty-mite Bruins tailback Wayne Knight.
The same Nebraska desperate for a signature win under coach Matt Rhule, a win that would take Oregon’s current College Football Playoff hopes from thin to nil.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with that. Don’t be ridiculous.
We’re going to take Lanning’s word for it, everyone. He knows Bear’s heart.
“He feels bad about that,” Lanning said.
So because Stephens clearly didn’t give a flip about the dirty hit to Moore, and in fact celebrated it, we should look the other way with Alexander because Lanning says he didn’t mean it — and he feels bad about it.
It wasn’t a football play, Dan. It was a dirty play.
Football is a violent sport that, above all else, should played as cleanly as possible for those involved. There are things that happen on the field, during the heat of the moment, that are the textbook definition of assault.
But that doesn’t mean when something dirty happens, you ignore it. Or worse, have rules for thee but not for me.
“When you see (the Alexander punch), it’s certainly egregious,” UCLA coach Bob Chesney said. “It’s a shame that was missed.”
It wasn’t missed. It’s right there in the video.
Lanning made it worse with his hypocritical stance, and then doubled down when asked to explain it. The final indignation, the worst part of Lanning’s story, was the insinuation that the punch was secondary.
“I don’t think that’s how (Iamaleava) got hurt,” Lanning said. “I think it was lower extremity.”
Now that's disgusting.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oregon coach Dan Lanning's hypocritical response to Bear Alexander punch | Opinion
