It's never fun to sit there in front of the media and answer some tough questions after losing a game, but that's what Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning had to do following his team's 39-31 loss at Oklahoma State.
Lanning addressed a number of things that led up to Oregon's first loss of the 2026 season, including some questionable fourth-down decisions.
This game certainly wasn't the Ducks' best foot forward, but Lanning insisted his team will learn from this and move on. Oregon still has plenty to play for, and maybe this is a wake-up call this team needed. The big question will be how they respond to this kind of adversity.
The Ducks were not good in any phase and Oregon has a lot to learn from. The film session of this one should be a hard, long
look in the mirror. This could motivate them or break them down. The USC game is just two weeks away.
Here is everything Lanning had to say following the Ducks' crushing defeat in Stillwater, Okla.
Opening Statement
The score was closer than it really was because it wasn't close in a lot of ways. We got our ass kicked in a lot of areas. Tons of credit to Coach Morris and his staff. With the takeaways that we had on defense, it didn't look like it looked. That being said, there's a lot of opportunity for improvement. Overall, as a team, we didn't tackle well in Week 1. We didn't tackle well in Week 2. We didn't win the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. We've got to do a better job there.
There are a lot of things you can look at and evaluate and say, 'Okay, let's go to work.' Ultimately, on the same note, every single goal is still in front of us. We control our destiny. But this is a game where we needed to show improvement, and we didn't show improvement. So we have to see that now, moving forward with our team. We've got a locker room that's hurting, obviously. But on the same note, Oklahoma State went and won that game, and we didn't do the things that you have to do to win that game. We owe that result to ourselves. So that's what happened.
We can be a team that goes and learns from it and becomes a lot better. I know there will be a lot of questions about fourth-down situations. I think you have to be aggressive in those moments, especially when you're not having success, to keep it going. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then you create short fields.
Ultimately, it was still an eight-point game there at the end. If you can score and get a touchdown, get the extra point or two-point conversion, you have an opportunity to tie it. But we didn't do that. We didn't have a lot of rhythm on offense today. Again, defensively, we gave up way too many explosives, had some poor eye discipline and didn't win at the point of attack. Our guys are much more capable than that. So all of that starts with me. Every bit of that starts with me. I didn't prepare our guys well enough to play. We didn't come with the right mindset. We didn't have a good enough plan on either side of the ball to be able to execute at a high level, and that cost us today.
Second-guessing promotions
Q: Are you second-guessing the promotions of the offensive and defensive coordinator at all after this loss?
Dan Lanning: No. No. I think that's the easy thing to say if you're watching — 'Oh yeah, obviously it's an OC-DC thing.' No. It's a combination of a staff. The decisions I make, the decisions we make as an offensive staff, the decisions we make as a defensive staff, and then execution. All of those things play into it, and every bit of that I own. I'm responsible for it. Ultimately, plays don't matter unless you execute the play. Now, can we call better plays? Absolutely, on both sides of the ball. But this isn't a Hampton thing. This isn't a Drew thing. That's not the reason. We have to go execute plays. If we were executing plays and they weren't working, that would be different.
Focus and discipline
Q: There have been issues with focus and discipline in these first couple of games. Do you feel like guys were looking too far ahead in a season with high expectations?
DL: No, I don't. I don't get that feeling from our players that they were looking too far ahead. I think they have high aspirations, but I think their focus has been on the immediate. We didn't execute well enough. I think there has to be a higher temperament in practice, a higher level of focus in practice for us to be able to execute. And then we have to be faster making adjustments throughout the game. People are going to play us differently at times. They did a great job on both sides of the ball of playing us a little bit differently, and we have to make adjustments quickly.
Fourth down decisions
You talked about being aggressive, but the passing game was having a lot of success. What went into some of those late fourth-down decisions?
DL: It certainly did. There in the fourth, the idea is that you get more than half of it back on third down. But on the same note, when you're looking at less than three or four minutes in a game, you have to be aggressive when you know you need a touchdown. Ultimately, had we stopped them consistently on defense? No. I think you have to be more aggressive. You go back and say, 'Okay, on third down, can we find a play that gets us four yards or gets us half of it back?' We didn't do that.
Again, I think we'll be second-guessed 100 percent. We're going to go back and evaluate the third downs and the fourth downs that we did convert and the ones that we didn't. But you're not going to be a team that has success if you can't execute properly and take advantage of those situations.
More execution and discipline
Q: You mentioned last week that execution and discipline weren't strengths. Why wasn't it better this week? How do you explain that?
DL: Yeah, it's hard to explain. We have to go back and watch the film to see exactly where the lapses are. Again, when you play a team that's explosive like that, and we knew they were going to go fast and create one-on-ones, we have to go see who was executing and who wasn't. We'll go back and watch that film and find the guys who are able to do that at a high level for us.
In some ways, I thought we were better from a penalty standpoint. It's a loud environment. The goal is to take the environment out of it. We didn't take the environment out of it because of the way we played the game, and that created some of the penalties that existed. Once you go back and look and see what it was — I know we had a facemask on the fourth down. I'm sure if they called it, I'm sure it was right. But there are moments in there where it's like, man, there were some real opportunities to get off the field or stay on the field that really cost us.
Emotions
Q: Given what a lot of these guys came back for this season, how would you describe the emotions in that locker room?
DL: They're frustrated and upset. They want to get to work. Again, it didn't happen today, so you have to get great answers and say, 'Okay, here's what we have to go attack to improve.'
Offensive line concerns
Q: You came into the season still looking to find your offensive line during fall camp. How do you feel about the line right now? Are you concerned?
DL: "Yeah, I think we have to improve in the run game. We have to find more creative ways to be able to run the ball. Obviously, we had some guys who got banged up as well. Trent got banged up. Doug wasn't really able to go today. So we have to evaluate that and continue to make sure that we can figure out our strengths and figure out what we're able to do at a high level when it comes to running the ball.
Dante's play
Q: Dante was victimized by some drops in the first half but had some nice drives in the second half. What is your evaluation of his overall play today?
DL: I have to go back and watch it. I think there were moments where he played really well, and I think there were moments that he certainly wishes he had back. We didn't protect the quarterback well enough today. It's also about what we're asking him to do.
Jackson's dynamic plays
Q: Devon Jackson had the play in the first half where he ran down the quarterback and saved a touchdown, and then he had the interception return for a touchdown. What did you think of those two plays?
DL: Yeah, those were big plays and really kept us in the game. Like I said, it wasn't as close as it looked. They got to the red area a couple of times and had turnovers in the red area. It could have been a little worse than what it really looked like. So certainly, those were highlights for him. Being able to score on defense is huge. We didn't capitalize on the momentum swing that we were able to create there, though.
Hitting reset button
Q: How do you hit the reset button with these guys and keep them from allowing this loss to bleed over?
DL: Ultimately, I've been a part of teams — I've been a part of two national championships — and in both of those seasons, we had losses. Those locker rooms felt similar to this. What did it end up being about? Getting better and going back to work. So I just told the guys the same thing: We have to go back to work. You can't start thinking about the end goal, which I don't think these guys are doing. You have to think about right now, where we can improve and where we can get better. I've seen it firsthand with teams. That's what we ultimately have to do and go attack.
Focus
Q: Are there concerns at all with the overall focus of this group, given how much you guys have talked about their intelligence and experience, and suddenly they don't look in sync?
DL: "I think there are definitely concerns in general from our performance standpoint. It's not about the players. It's about what we're asking them to do as coaches and, again, what we're putting out there on the field. We have to be able to execute at a high level, and if we're not, that falls back on myself.
So we have to evaluate everything that we're doing. On the same note, a lot of what we're doing is the same stuff that we've had a lot of success with the last few years. So it's not like you throw stuff in the trash. You figure out where the holes are, how you patch the holes, how you fix them, and attack them. Maybe it wasn't as much a lack of focus from the players as it was a lack of execution. It's making sure that we're asking them to do the things they have to do in practice. I don't know if we gave them enough of those looks in practice that showed up in this game.
Dierre's fumble
Q: Was it maybe fitting that execution bit you on the very last offensive play? It was a pretty simple, safe play call, and Dierre just couldn't bring it in.
DL: "No. That's a play that everyone will look at, and the reality is this ballgame is in no way, shape or form on Dierre. We've seen him make a million plays here for the Ducks. When you put yourself in that situation, plays like that can happen at times. It's easy to say, 'Oh, it was that play.' Ultimately, there were a myriad of plays. There were several plays where we didn't play well enough to win this game.
60-minute fight
Q: Going into the game, did you expect this to be kind of a four-quarter fight?
DL: Ultimately, you don't know what any game is going to look like. I thought our guys prepared, but they gave us a lot of looks that were a little bit different, especially defensively, than what we had prepared for. We had prepared and anticipated what we thought we were going to see. I thought their defensive coordinator did a great job of changing things up.
We're always alert for a heavyweight fight. That's what we felt like we came into last week. We were down at halftime, and you come out and score on that first drive. Obviously, they got the field goal, and then we score on the first drive. You feel a little bit of momentum building. But ultimately, we didn't get enough stops, and we didn't convert enough.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Everything Dan Lanning said following Oregon's stunning loss
