Oregon plays USC in just over a week. Ducks Wire is trying to make sense of the loss to Oklahoma State. It did not pull punches in criticizing Oregon coach Dan Lanning.
"Throughout his career at Oregon, Lanning has made a name for himself with brashness, pushing the envelope when necessary. We've seen this with fourth-down calls, fake punts, onside kicks, and many other extravagant decisions. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. Generally, in every situation, the decision was defensible, though. On Saturday, Lanning crossed over from risky into idiotic.
"Trailing by 5 points with 6:48 in the game and a 4th and 8 on his own 38-yard line, Lanning decided to keep his offense on the field and go for it rather than punt with three timeouts
and a world of time left in the game. Instead of pinning the Cowboys deep and making them drive, Lanning put the ball in Dante Moore's hands in the midst of the worst game of his career. Unsurprisingly, Moore short-armed a throw, and the Ducks turned the ball over. Oklahoma State would go down to kick a field goal and make it an eight-point game. That decision just encapsulates how mismanaged Oregon was today. The Ducks were flagged seven times for 66 yards, including a pair of delay of games late in the fourth quarter when the Ducks were trying to mount a comeback. That's coaching, and that's inexcusable.
"'We didn't have a lot of rhythm on offense; defensively, we gave up way too many explosives, some poor eye discipline, not winning at the point of attack,' Lanning said after the game. 'Our guys are much more capable of that, so all that starts with me. I didn't prepare our guys well enough.'"
Dan Lanning faces the toughest test of his career in the coming weeks. How he performs against USC could affect not just this season, but the entirety of his tenure at Oregon.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Dan Lanning was reckless versus Oklahoma State, faces stiff challenge
