Fresh off a big win at home over a ranked opponent, the Oregon Ducks could be feeling the wind in their hair again. Changes were made, and the Ducks looked like the explosive offense and tenacious defense that many expected coming into the season.
A 34-26 win over Northwestern restored some confidence for the Ducks with a new and aggressive offense, led by the connection between Dylan Raiola and Dakorien Moore. But now comes the toughest task on the schedule: a November trip to Columbus to take on Ohio State, which is feeling its back up against the wall.
Dan Lanning has split his two matchups against the Buckeyes, both of which occurred in the 2024 season. Oregon squeezed by Ohio State in Eugene for a 32-31 victory that saw time run out on the Buckeyes'
final drive, but Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Day took their revenge in a 41-21 blowout win in the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State is coming off a 30-18 loss on the road to USC in freshman backup quarterback Luke Fahey's first career start. The Buckeyes' game plan is still for Fahey to get the ball to Smith as much as possible, but Ohio State has playmakers across the field on both sides of the ball that Lanning and the Ducks should be worried about.
Lanning previewed the upcoming matchup, Raiola's improved play and the new aggressive identity on offense heading into the game. Here is everything Lanning had to say on Monday before the Ducks travel to Columbus:
Opening Statement
Dan Lanning: "First, want to start by shouting out our cross country team for sweeping the Big Ten. Unbelievable job by them. And then women's basketball got off to a hot start tonight. I know men's is about to start up, so we're certainly pulling for those teams as they approach.
"Following up after the game, again, I want to thank our crowd. I thought the atmosphere was awesome. I thought our players really showed some resiliency in that game and really kept their focus and were able to attack. So some real positives that came out of that, and obviously that matters when you're going to play a team like Ohio State and a legendary place there like "The Shoe." Coach Day does an unbelievable job. It's a really well-coached team. They've got good personnel in all phases. They really show up, so it'll be a real challenge for us, but one that we're certainly excited about."
Different Stakes
Question: What do you make of the unique circumstances of the game? Obviously, two elite programs that aren't having the type of seasons that maybe they expected to have.
DL: "I think that Ohio State speaks for itself. They're a really good team, and it's a real challenge this time of year. I mean, it's part of what makes it exciting about being at Oregon or being at a place like Ohio State: to get to play in games like this. So this is one that certainly means a lot to both of us."
Dylan Raiola's Consistency
Q: Saturday wasn't the first time Dylan had a good game. The issue has been following it up with another good game. Can you speak to the keys of maybe getting more consistency just from him?
DL: "Yeah, I think the more comfortable he gets, the better he's going to play. Like I said postgame, he builds confidence as the game goes. So I think it's important for us to be able to start early, but for him to also understand, 'I don't have to force anything,' right? For us to have success and be able to lean on the players that he has around him to be able to have success and us have a great game plan for him."
Coaching Staff Growth
Q: You've talked a lot about growth in yourself this year. That this is the year that you think you've grown the most as a coach. I'm curious if you think you've seen the same thing in some of your assistants, whether it's Hampton or Terry or Koa. Have you seen them grow along with you this year?
DL: "I think we all are. I don't know that I've sat back and tried to analyze what makes one coach better than another, but I think all of us learn from moments throughout the season. I've told you guys before that we do pretty critical write-ups after every game and evaluate. 'OK, if we were going to do this all over again, what would we do different?' Those continue to be something that we utilize and affected us this season in how we would approach things differently and how we use them, so certainly not just myself, but everybody in the program."
Luke Fahey
Q: Limited tape on the new quarterback, but what stands out about him from the USC game and maybe anything else you've looked at so far?
DL: "I remember Luke coming out of high school. Went by seeing him when he was in high school, and he's an operator. He's a really smart quarterback. He's a winner. His intelligence, it shows up. This is an offense that has a lot of moving parts. I thought he handled it extremely well in that environment. If you look at it in a lot of ways, you'd say, OK, they won the game in a lot of categories. They kind of lost in field position. It was kind of break-even when you talk about the takeaway battle. Third downs and conversion downs were really similar for both teams. Really, the difference was scoring in the red area and their success down there. So, I thought he operated well. It wasn't the best conditions either, playing in the rain. But he's proven that he can be a guy that can be successful and operate their offense. Certainly, coming out of high school, we remember him being a guy that was like that."
Jeremiah Smith
Q: Obviously, Jeremiah Smith, somebody that you guys have seen before. He's continued to develop into one of the best players in the sport. How do you game plan around somebody that seems inevitable in that way?
DL: "We're gonna see if we can play with 12. I guess I realize that's not funny against this team. But no, I mean Jeremiah is special. He's a special player. You have to know where he's at at all times; he's dynamic in every phase. I think it's one that our players are excited about that challenge. But there's a real challenge involved in defending a guy like him. He's certainly pro-ready. I think anybody that's played against him already would tell you that he probably was two years ago, right? So he certainly is now. He's a guy that you have to know where he's at at all times. They've done a good job of moving him around and making it challenging. Arthur (Smith) and their offensive staff do a really good job of finding ways to get him the ball and be able to take advantage of it."
Ohio State's Defensive Line
Q: What stands out to you about this Ohio State defensive front?
DL: "One, they make it really difficult, the job that they do up front. I think they create a lot of one-on-ones. They have a lot of a multitude of fronts that they use and guys that they move around in a lot of different positions. I would call them a game-plan defense, where what they do one week is different than what they do the next week. You don't necessarily know where they're always going to line up, and they always have small variations that they'll do based off of what you do as a team. Whether it's a cheated nose, whether it's a bear front or a four-down front, the variety that they provide, and then their ability. They're hard to move. The guys that are hard to move and have had a lot of success. Obviously, really well coached."
Jeremiah McClellan
Q: I think Jeremiah McClellan was warming up a couple hours before the kick. Is that something where he's getting close to being ready, or what's the latest there?
DL: "Yeah, he's been doing some stuff with us in practice. Continue to evaluate where he's at, but you know, certainly is promising the growth and the steps that he's taken."
Raiola's Aggression
Q: Follow up on Dylan and his performance: you talked a lot about getting back to your OG ways and being aggressive. Do you feel like that maybe played into him playing more free and not worrying about protecting the football too too much?
DL: "I hope he's still worried about protecting the football. That third-and-4 play, we throw the touchdown to Jamari. I don't know how many times we've thrown it past the sticks on third down recently. I think there was certainly a freedom in the way that all of us coached and played. I think in that game and that coaching, you think back to like the UCLA game, and you're like, man, this is a game that if we didn't have seven turnovers or six turnovers or five turnovers, we were in position to have success in the game. I think that moments like that make you coach different. Because you're like, 'Alright, if we just protect the ball, we don't make mistakes, we're gonna win,' and that's not always reality. You have to be true to your identity, and I feel like there were moments in that UCLA game and at Illinois that we weren't true to our identity. I think that we let our players play a little more free, let them do what they do, and again, not so much concerned about outcomes, but the best possibilities are created in moments where you're able to say, 'OK, I'm going to make a decisive decision and attack it and go play.'"
Q: I hate to use the word scared, but more confident in what you're doing. Did you see that?
DL: "Yeah, I thought our players played more confident."
The Shoe
Q: From what I could tell, you have not coached in Columbus before. Is that correct?
DL: "I have not."
Q: We've talked before about your pregame walk around the stadium to kind of get your bearings. Is that a little bit more special when you're in a spot like "The Shoe" that has so much history, and you're kind of just taking it all in?
DL: "I'm certainly excited to go play in this venue. I don't know that the walk's any different, right? But it's certainly one of those boxes that you want to check off the opportunity to play in a place that's special like that."
Messiah Hampton
Q: Going forward with Messiah, what is his status in terms of availability?
DL: "Yeah, continue to evaluate, and you guys will be aware of it based on status reports."
Stopping Jeremiah Smith
Q: Facing Jeremiah Smith, I'm curious what the message to your defensive backs is in terms of just trying to match up with him. What are you looking for from your guys in terms of that particular matchup?
DL: "I'm looking for their best. It's going to be a great, great opportunity. I think Coach Day said it early in the year: if he's one-on-one, he's open. If there's two guys covering him, he's sort of open, right? If there's three, that means somebody else is open. I think that's the great challenge with this game, is wherever Jeremiah is, everybody defends him differently. If you want to roll the coverage or take two guys over to him, that means somebody else all of a sudden became the hop away and became available, and they've got other good players on this team that are available that they're able to utilize and can create explosive plays. So, in the secondary, at linebacker, even with the front, it's kind of a collective unit that everybody has to play together to try to limit explosive plays for players like him."
Player Experience On Staff
Q: Last time Oregon played at Ohio State, you weren't there, but there were a number of coaches that are now on your staff that were on that team, where Oregon went to Columbus and won. Have they shared anything about the experience of that game with the team ahead of this meeting?
DL: "Not specifically, just because there's a lot of different people in the room for us. Certainly, a lot of talk logistically about the environment, the crowd noise, locker room location, stuff like that. But obviously it's an exciting history there for the Ducks. This is a new season, new game, new team in a lot of ways. A lot of people that weren't necessarily a part of that experience, but all that other stuff plays into it."
Teitum Tuioti
Q: What do you guys like about Teitum as a blocker in those jumbo packages compared to another offensive lineman?
DL: "The same reason you like Teitum closing on a counter is the same reason you like him blocking a counter, right? Because he moves bodies and does an unbelievable job of doing that."
Operation
Q: What did you think of the operation offensively? New voice calling plays, new person in the seat, and all that comes with just that operation?
DL: "Yeah, I thought overall it went really smooth. I think there was one moment in the game where we were a little frustrated with the execution. It was much about the way we lined up and executed as players as it was the operation itself. But there were a couple of negatives that we wish we could have had back because guys didn't line up as fast as we wanted to in the sequence we wanted. But overall, I thought the communication on the headset was great. The preparation was really good."
Jordon Davison
Q: What have you learned since Saturday about Jordon's injury, and what is his status moving forward?
DL: "Our status report will come out on Wednesday. I don't think it's long-term with Jordon, but you guys will find out when the injury report comes out."
Kirby Smart's Comments
Q: Curious if you've seen Kirby's comments over the weekend; he talked about injuries and NIL, and that he felt that teams are practicing less but getting hurt more. He didn't have an answer for if that was due to NIL, but he knows that he can't get to the level of physicality that you guys did in 2021. Have you had any comments or talked about that with him or any other coaches?
DL: "We've had plenty of conversations. I didn't see his exact comments, but I do think it's the challenge of: the season can be longer; you want to be able to make sure that you're really efficient with your practice time and what you're able to do. I think depth across college football is a lot different because it's spread out between a lot of teams. So some of the physicality that you could have in the past, because you felt like you had a roster that was stacked from top to bottom, it's not necessarily the case, right? You're talking about guys that are playing really at a high level for you, and then the next guy in line is a freshman that maybe at times in other instances in our history in college football they might be waiting for their turn. But yeah, it is a little bit different game from that perspective, and I think you're always playing that cat-and-mouse game of 'OK, do we need more practice time? Do we need more physicality in practice?' We certainly have adjusted the way that we do things at times. But then there are moments that it just has to happen; it has to look a certain way, and you get frustrated because somebody might get nicked or banged up, but that's just the reality. Now, I also think players are bigger, faster, and stronger, and that probably leads to injuries as well. So there are a lot of things that play into that, but it's a different game for sure. I think a lot of that starts with the length of the season and the amount of time that we have our players. You also get to spend a lot more time with them in the offseason. So when you introduce something, you might have already walked through it 15 times in the summer or in the spring. So different from that standpoint for sure."
Penalties
Q: Only one penalty on Saturday. It's obviously the best of the season. One of your better days since you've been here. Can you walk us through the progress of getting to this point where there's been growth?
DL: "Yeah, I mean, you never want to be the team that's penalizing yourself, right? Those yards add up. I thought our guys have done a better job of competing. It's the little things that you coach every single day that have to continue to show up, and preparation. Some of those mistakes that didn't show up this Saturday hurt us. Against Illinois, we had a couple short-yardage situations that became third-and-longer because we did jump offside. So I always think our team does a good job of where we put our focus as coaches. Like those things show up for us, and how fast can we identify them? And I think that was a lot of our players' focus on Saturday was really in the right place when it came to things like that."
D'Antre Robinson
Q: Matt Johnson going down feels like D'Antre Robinson's reps have gone up. How do you feel like he's handled that bigger workload? He had that big sack late in the game on Saturday. Just his performance over the last couple of weeks in a moment where he's been asked to do more.
DL: "Yeah, I think D'Antre's continued to get better and better and better, and I think there's still a level of improvement that he can see that he hasn't even touched yet. I think the biggest thing is how coachable he's been. He's really grown as a person and a player since he's been here. There's still another level of an untapped player or an untapped into player that I think we can see and expect to show up before the season's done."
Farm Your Land
Q: In your TV interview, you mentioned that you might have had independent contractors during the game. What do you mean by that, and is that related to the 'farm your land' thing that you mentioned?
DL: "I mean ultimately, everybody's got to be on the same team. It all has to come from in-house. We have one guy not doing his job, you're not going to have the success needed. Even though we walked away with success on Saturday, we could have been so much more successful if we had 11 guys doing exactly what they're supposed to do and what they're supposed to do. Now, as a coach, that means you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen, right? I'm looking for guys that'll be assassins, not superheroes. You don't have to feel like you have to make a crazy play every single play. Sometimes when you're trying to go so much harder because you're putting this unbelievable effort, you're all of a sudden not in your gap, or you're trying to make a pick because your eyes aren't on your man anymore. Or you're trying to run a route because you think it'll be open, but that's not the route that's designated in this coverage. I think there were a few of those moments on Saturday that hurt us.
"When you go back, and you just point to the entirety of the game to our players and show, 'Hey, look, we had 11 guys doing what they were coached to on this play. Look at the result,' you recognize that there's a lot of success on both sides of the ball when that happens, so our guys care. Sometimes that means they press right, and again we don't want superheroes, we want assassins. We want guys that do their job consistently, don't really care where the credit comes, and they make 100 of the plays that they're supposed to make. I don't need anybody making 100% of the plays that they're not supposed to make, because that means they're probably not doing their job somewhere else."
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Everything Dan Lanning said before Oregon's trip to Ohio State
