The Oregon Ducks left no doubt in a 31-7 rout of the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium. Facing one of the nation's best defenses, the Ducks flipped the script and attacked the Wolverines early on, and the sputtering Michigan offense couldn't keep up.
Dan Lanning was aggressive and made sure the Ducks continued to "let it hang" against the Wolverines, taking shots downfield and sticking with the run game against an aggressive Michigan front. Dylan Raiola tossed four touchdown passes to four different receivers while topping 300 yards in the air for the second time this season.
Dakorien Moore and Jeremiah McClellan both topped 100 yards receiving and caught touchdowns, while Dierre Hill rushed for 98 yards and took a short
catch 49 yards to the house to put the game away in the fourth quarter. Oregon's defense continued to frustrate Michigan's offense, holding the Wolverines to less than 100 passing yards and forcing a pair of fumbles late.
Lanning was excited by the win, but is aware the Ducks will need to quickly shift their focus toward a short turnaround on the road before heading to Michigan State for a Friday night game. Here is everything Lanning had to say after Oregon's dominant win over Michigan.
Opening Statement
Dan Lanning: "Fun performance from our guys. I think right there in the middle of the first quarter, it's like, 'OK, yeah, our fans are the real deal.' They showed up and made an impact again. It's always awesome to have a home-field advantage like that. Proud of all of our team's performance. Thought there were some things that we need to be able to clean up in the second half, but ultimately we played really good defensively the entire day, excluding that third quarter. They had a really long drive, and then you're able to get a big-time red-area stop outside of that big run they had in the first half. And then offensively, I thought we started really fast and executed at a high level. We're pretty efficient on first down, and then again, some penalties hurt us there in the second half. But that's the most points that have been scored against that defense. That's a really good defense. I thought our quarterback did a good job making good decisions and taking advantage of opportunities when they were there and getting the ball to playmakers. But overall, complete play from our guys."
Explosive Plays
Question: Lots of long scoring plays today. What does it take to have so many explosive plays with this offense against a high-caliber defense?
DL: "I think it's complementary football. When you're running the ball effectively, like I know Dierre was close; I don't know if he had it, but he's close to 100 yards rushing today. I thought we were able to stay on pace again. We felt like some of the play-action game would be a weapon for us early, with the ability to set up some of the runs, and then to be able to keep your eyes downfield with pocket presence. I thought Dylan did a great job of that. That means you have to have clean pockets to do it. So overall, good performance there."
Dylan Raiola
Q: Really clean day from Dylan today. No interceptions. Not of any throws in jeopardy either. What can you say about the growth that he's made over the last few weeks?
DL: "I sat down and asked him on Thursday. I'm like, 'OK, what do you think the keys to the game are going to be?' He said, 'Hey, these are going to be two good defenses, and the opportunity for us to make sure that we take care of the ball is going to be imperative.' I thought he did a great job making decisions to not put the ball in jeopardy, as you said, and giving us a chance because we knew that it could be a defensive battle. For us to go out there and score 31, I think speaks volumes against a team like that."
Jett Washington
Q: Jett Washington with a huge pass breakup in the end zone. What makes him unique, especially as a freshman?
DL: "Yeah, just every time Jett gets an opportunity, he takes advantage of his opportunity. You've seen his role grow with our team. It started with being an impact player on every special team for us. You see him in big moments there in a two-point play with a breakup, and then again on a fourth down with a breakup. He's long. He's athletic. He's smart. He cares. I think all those things show up when he steps on the field."
Dierre Hill Jr. Late TD
Q: Can you speak to Dierre's running ability through contact, fighting through tackles, and then it's just impacting the passing game?
DL: "I mean, we had a third-and-long there at the very end, and it's one of those where, like, 'Hey, we want the clock to run. Let's see if we can have an opportunity for a shot.' And the shot wasn't there. I thought it was a great job by Dylan checking it down. Unbelievable effort by Jalen Lott on the backside to go in there and get a block, and then Dierre turned that into a first down, kept the clock running, and then finished that drive with points. I thought this was one of Dierre's most consistent games with attacking where he needs to line up, execute his job, how he needs to do it, and the physicality that he ran with. He got a lot of yards after contact. I don't know what the volume of yards after contact was, but he was falling forward and fighting for tough yards against a physical team today."
Winning With Joy
Q: You've said before that you love when nobody else believes in your team, and there was a point in the middle of the season where it seemed like you guys were whatever you want to describe it, how much joy or how much fun are you having?
DL: "I'm enjoying coaching this team a lot. It's a group that steps out on their field. Ready to work every single day. I think they've shown tremendous growth. But yeah, it's a fun process, man. I'm having a lot of fun coaching this group because of the way they work. You get excited about what they do on a Tuesday, on a Wednesday, in their prep in the week, the conversations that you're having on the sideline with these guys, and what they want to be able to create, and how they want to be able to improve what they're seeing on the field. It's a great example of our guys. They've been hit in the mouth a couple times, and they've done a great job getting up and throwing punches back."
Jeremiah McClellan
Q: Let's talk about Jeremiah McClellan's performance today. That first touchdown catch, 60-yard bump. He yelled into the camera, "I'm back!" Talk about what you saw.
DL: "I'm really proud of Jeremiah. I told him after this game was over, I was going to be as proud of how he blocked, but I know he got the flag on the holding call, and that's just, it's a great effort play. The guy was outside his framework, but that's probably what I'm most impressed with. There are limited plays where you actually touch the wideout or touch the ball as a wideout. Your impact that you can make is just as big with you in the running game. I saw a lot of moments with him playing with great physicality, giving extra effort. His energy was awesome on the sideline today. So really proud of him because it's been a journey to get back. He put in a lot of hard work to do it. And for him to have the game like he did today, I know there's going to be some growth moments, but it really speaks to his character and how hard he works."
Fourth Down Call
Q: Talk about the reasoning for why you guys didn't go for it on fourth-and-two on the second drive.
DL: "We felt like there wasn't necessarily, like, 'OK, our play-call is a big winner.' It's going to involve beating a one-on-one. We wanted to look to see if they had the look that we liked. Probably could have taken a delay of game there too, but the wind was blowing. We've done a good job preserving timeouts, but ultimately felt like it could be a defensive game. In that moment, it was worth flipping the field, and it really did become somewhat of a field position game. In this game, we got the stop. As I said, in the red area, and now you're at the minus three on offense. There were going to be some moments where it was going to be the team that was able to win field position and then take advantage of points opportunities. So it wasn't worth the risk at that point unless we felt really great about the call. Based on the look that they were in, it was going to be an OK call, but maybe not our best. We just wanted to make sure we protected the field."
Matayo Uiagalelei
Q: Two more sacks for Matayo today. Two away from the program record for a career. How cool is it having coached him for as long as you have to see him get close to that territory? And then secondarily, how important is he going to be down the stretch with Teitum out now?
DL: "I mean, Matayo's been an outstanding player for this year, and I thought Teitum and Matayo were both having career years and really special years. I could go back and point to all of Matayo's success that he's having this season, and point back to how hard he worked in the off-season to put himself in that position. He's got a great mind. He's a student of the game. He continues to push and learn. He's got great energy out there in the field, and you wouldn't think it's Week 10 or Week 11 with the way he's out there practicing with the juice that he has. So to see it show up on the field, I'm proud of him, especially against a team that's not really throwing the ball that much, to be able to take advantage of those opportunities."
Jerry Mixon
Q: Can you give me an update on Jerry, who I don't believe played this game?
DL: "Yeah, practiced throughout all week, and if you guys remember, he got banged up last week in the game, and then really practiced all week fine, and then just got tweaked in warm-ups there. To the point where it wasn't really even on our injury report, and we expected to be able to have him. But he's super tough. He wanted to be out there playing, but it was more of a precaution on our part. I think he's going to be fine and available. It's just kind of a weird deal there in warm-ups."
Scoreboard Watching
Q: How much do you pay attention to the results across the country right now? Obviously, you've got to take care of what you have in front of you, but how much do you pay attention to that?
DL: "I haven't looked yet. I'll look before the night's over, I'm sure."
Michigan's QBs
Q: We saw a little bit of Bryce Underwood and a little bit of Tommy Carr today. Were you preparing to see both quarterbacks, and did your scheme switch at all when each one would enter the game?
DL: "Not drastic changes. We were preparing for both. They're both players that have proven that they can have success, and we had a plan for both, but it wasn't drastically different."
Spreading the Ball Around
Q: How vindicating is it to not only see Dylan ball out, but to see him throw four touchdowns to four different guys?
DL: "Yeah, I just think it's the capability of our team to go out there and make adjustments and grow. Put it on your players. Create opportunities for our players. I think our offensive staff has done an outstanding job of creating a plan each week, and Dylan's done an outstanding job going out there and executing it. Football is a great team game, right? It takes 11 people doing the right thing at all times and putting themselves in position to have great success, so he's made big strides. He's really grown for us, and our offensive staff has done a great job putting him in position to have success."
Defensive Response
Q: It seemed like Michigan started to find a little bit of an offensive rhythm in the third quarter. What did you see from your defense in response to that, and like your coaching staff as a whole?
DL: "In moments, we knew that they played tough physical football, and they created some small gains, obviously, and that was a long drive. But like I said, that's probably one of my most proud moments is getting down there in the red area and still being able to get the stop, which was big."
70-Yard Michigan TD
Q: The one explosive that they had, what did you see on that play that sort of led to that moment?
DL: "Just a missed fit. They were creating formations in the boundary run. We've got to be able to maintain gap integrity and be able to finish it as tacklers, and ultimately should be able to vice the ball there in that moment. But we didn't do a good job of that."
Dutch Horisk
Q: Dutch is yet another freshman that got in and had a chance to have an impact on the game today. I know you need to watch the tape, but what do you see from the fire from him and his ability to play today?
DL: "The minute he got here, he started operating like a guy that's been in the system for 10 years. Just with his knowledge, he doesn't operate as a freshman on the field. He takes his job very seriously. There's probably not anybody in our program right now that prepares harder to know what their calls are. Be assignment sound, be responsible for what they're responsible for, and he's done an outstanding job. So excited he was able to get his feet wet and create an impact today."
Raiola's Mindset
Q: You've already talked about Dylan's impressive execution over the last few weeks. What about his mindset and the way he's been preparing throughout?
DL: "Yeah, I just think he's continuing to get more and more comfortable, and his confidence continues to rise. I think he's recognizing that the preparation that he's putting in and the time is really leading to success out there on the field. He'd be the first one to tell you, 'I can't do that without my offensive line operating at a high level, wideouts, running backs operating at a high level.' So I think all those things have come together."
Dylan Williams
Q: Dylan Williams struggled with injuries last year. How have you seen him step up this season in a bigger role?
DL: "Dylan's always been a guy that has a high level of passion and energy to go out there and execute a high level, and I think he became the best version of himself when he said, 'OK, I'm going to make 100% of the plays I'm supposed to make.' He plays with great physicality. He's worked really hard each offseason, and it's tough to play linebacker in our system. There's a lot that we ask you to do, and he's doing that at a high level right now. I thought that showed up today. Really proud of his performance."
Run Fits
Q: "Feels like a few games this season, Koi Perich has had trouble with his run fits, and had had moments where, maybe, I saw disappointment. But that's something you pointed out with other guys as well. Your thoughts on his steady improvement maybe in some of those areas?
DL: "Yeah, I think it's constant improvement for our entire team, right? I think there'll be moments today that show up, it's like, 'OK, that's got to be clear for us,' and there's gonna be moments where that's exactly what it's supposed to look like. So it's being technically sound, but there's been big strides there as an entire defense. I think early in the season we didn't look like we wanted to look. That's great effort from coach Hampton, our coaches there on that side of the ball, and our players really buying into what do we have to do to get better."
Playmakers
Q: It's the third or fourth game of the year where you had J-Mac, Evan, Dakorien and Jamari all available. Is this kind of what you envisioned this passing offense to look like?
DL: "I mean we have weapons out there, and it makes it really hard for people to make a decision how they're going to play coverage on us, right? Obviously, you have to have the ability to distribute the ball to them. So I think once we've cleaned up some things when it comes to protection and created some scheme that really fits our guys, when you have the plethora of wideouts and tight ends and backs that we have, I think it shows that we can be pretty dynamic, and those guys did a good job today."
Quick Turnaround
Q: Short week down on the road. How does that impact your preparation, your debrief after this game?
DL: "Yeah, today's really Sunday. Tomorrow's really Monday, right? It kind of speeds up, so we lose a day in the week. I think it's important that our players recover, especially this late in the season. But really, when we hit Monday, it'll be somewhat like a Tuesday practice, and then try to get right back into our routine. So the travel is going to be a different piece of that. It'll play into it as well. But we've kind of had a plan for that all season on what this week would look like."
Postgame Activity
Q: Talk to us a little bit about what you're headed to this evening. You've got a Lanning in a championship game. You want to get out of here. You want to get on the road. You want to get up to Corvallis. You want to watch one of your sons win a championship. What does that look like to you?
DL: Great question. Yeah, Titan's got a Super Bowl tonight. I think it's actually at Oregon State's stadium. I was going to surprise him and be there, so hopefully he doesn't watch this press conference. But I got some recruiting to do first, and then hopefully I can make it up there and see him go to town."
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Everything Dan Lanning said after Oregon's win over Michigan
