Everything Dan Lanning said after the 41-7 win over the Beavers in the Civil War

Every coach is going to look at film, win or lose, and find a few things their team can improve on.

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning will find a few things his team can tackle, so to speak, as they prepare for their toughest road test of the season. They go to No. 2 Penn State, but the Ducks will enjoy their 41-7 victory over Oregon State for at least a few hours.

Lanning addressed a number of subjects after his team improved to 4-0 on the season, but despite a sluggish first quarter against a heated rival, there were a lot of things to be happy about after the first 15 minutes of the game. Oregon knows a sluggish 15 minutes next week won't cut it or it won't matter how well they play for the remaining 45. It'll be too late by then.

As Oregon has a lot to study on for the next game, the Ducks certainly gave Penn State plenty to chew on as Oregon has been one of the more complete teams in the nation through the first quarter of the season. It should be a good one in College Station with ESPN College GameDay there, but Oregon and Lanning had plenty to say following this most recent Civil War win over the Beavers.

Opening Statement

Dan Lanning: All right, awesome crowd today. Always want to be thankful to our fans. I think they're a huge piece of what we do and how we do it. We started off a little bit slow, and then obviously really came together in the second, third, fourth quarter, there to finish it out and have a dominant performance. We talked about winning the trenches before this game started, and to be able to rush for almost 300 yards and hold them down 100 rushing after we started so poorly, was a big win for us. And overall. Operated Well, we've got to be cleaner, and some of our issues there, from a penalty standpoint, just our operation overall, but ultimately, a dominant performance and running a challenge for us to go ahead into this next week as we go to Penn State.

Message after slow start

Question: What was the message for the team after that second drive?

Lanning: Really simple. Do your job right. And no, we came in saying that we were going to do. We can't allow teams to be able to move the ball like that to start. And we got to stay in rhythm offensively. We lost a little bit of that, but we get it back.

Stuffing Oregon State on first downs

Question: How do you feel like you guys did it on first down, particularly for the run game?

Lanning: Like I said, better in the second, third, and fourth quarter. I think there were some errors by us early that we can clean up. And we gave them, you know, some things and some credit to them. They did some stuff that was good, but we gave them some opportunities that we shouldn't give them. So I think we share that up later on in the game.

Status of the rivalry

Question: This is the second time you've played the Beavers in a September non-conference game. How do you feel about this rivalry?

Lanning: Certainly means a ton to us. You know, I think everyone feels like this resonates a little bit more when it's on that Thanksgiving weekend. It's a little bit different when it's not, but it's still a game that means a ton. It was 129th meeting, one that we have a lot of pride in. So yeah, it means a ton to our players, and I think they really vocalize that throughout the week, and then today.

Dakorien Moore's skills

Question: What makes Dakorien Moore's ball skills so good for the one-on-one back shoulder throws, and just how effective of a weapon is that for your offense?

Lanning: Yeah, I mean, what makes him good as he catches it right? And, you know, he's been a guy that can win in those one one-on-ones. I think there's some opportunities that wishes he had back today, but ultimately, he's a tough guy to guard, and if he can beat you over the top, he'll win over the top. If you're even he's going to be able to beat you on the back shoulder.

Fake punt success

Question: How do you think James has done so far punting the ball? And what did you see on that fake that he was able to convert?

Lanning: He was able to execute a look that we thought might be there, and did an unbelievable job. You know, if it wasn't there, he had some options. Did a really good job of hitting it inside the 10 there, which was huge, right to flip the field. So overall, I think he's executed really well.

Taking momentum after a tied first quarter

Question: With how high you guys have started and games before this, you guys, there hasn't really been an opportunity where you guys needed to steal momentum, but in this game, it's a tie game, you guys almost pumped it back to them with a chance for them to take the lead. So what was the message, kind of, for the first time this year, take the momentum back from the Beaver side?

Lanning: we didn't really talk about momentum, but we talked about making plays. Talked about creating opportunities for yourself. And momentum can go one way or the other, but ultimately, it's about stacking multiple plays. It's about how many plays in a row can you win? You're going to win each play individually. And I thought our guys did that, obviously, overall today.

Ready for Penn State

Question: Can you assess where you guys are through four games as you head into Penn State?

Lanning: I think we're going to really good gauge that as we play Penn State, I think it's a team that's obviously extremely talented. I feel good about our team. I really like our team. This will be good environment for us to go play in. We'll be playing people that have a lot of talent as well and good scheme on both sides of the ball. It'll be a real challenge for us.

Two-minute drill success

Question: Towards the end of the first half, that two-minute drive from Dante Moore, how important is what he's been able to do in those two-minute drills to end a half. And what did you like from the offensive line to give him those pockets during that two-minute drill?

Lanning: I think Dante's done what we've seen him do a lot this year is take what's there. There's some moments that he had good coverage down the field. He was able to win with his legs. We scored last week in a two-minute drive right before half. You know, doing it again, especially it's really important when coming out at the half you're not going to have the ball right so to be able to score right there with less than a minute left is huge. Doesn't really give the opponent the opportunity to go score before half, and then for us to come out, then get a three-and-out, and then turn around and give it back to our offense again. I think that creates a real separation.

Keeping Moore in the game a bit longer

Question: This whole season, you guys have traditionally kind of held Dante out in that fourth quarter. And you could have done that in this game. So why did you decide to keep him in?

Lanning: We made the decision if it's more than five minutes, we're going to get one more drive with our offense. And it's less than we're going to do something different. And we wanted to try to create one more clean drive. We weren't a clean drive before.

McClellan's first TD

Question: Jeremiah McClellan had a nice touchdown today for his first touchdown. How do you reward blocking like that when you give targets?

Lanning: That's just unbelievable. A job by J-Mac, and he's gonna get a lot more opportunities, right? That's the first touchdown of many for him in Autzen and on our team. You never know where the ball is going to go by now. There's every pass play that has multiple people the ball can go to, and he took advantage of it when it's thrown his direction today, did a really good job.

Games vs. practice

Question: What do you like seeing from your teams in games as opposed to practice?

Lanning: The competition for us, if it's going to show up in a game, it's got to show up in practice. So I want to see us compete in practice like we're playing a game, and the more moments we can create like that in practice, the more success we're going to have the field on game day, we get great, challenging practice going against our offense going against our defense and vice versa. That's a great challenge. So it's gonna be a team that matches up well with us next week, that it's gonna be a great challenge as well. There's gonna be a little bit back and forth when the moment comes, you take advantage of it.

Dante playing better against the Beavers

Question: Did you get a sense this meant a little more to Dante given he didn't play well against OSU when he was with UCLA?

Lanning: I think every game means a little bit to him. But I certainly think that, you know, he this, this game is one that resonated since his time there at UCLA. And it wasn't his performance that, you know, he felt like was his best, and he went out there and operated really well today.

Holding Murphy in check

Question: What did you do to hold Maalik Murphy in check?

Lanning: Ultimately, besides the busted coverage, we matched patterns really well, and we're able to condense a pocket, you know, and I think that he didn't have a ton of time back there. There weren't necessarily a ton of pass rush opportunities. They ran the ball a little bit. But when you have bodies on bodies, it's hard to throw. And when you're playing some zone coverage, it's a little bit easier to make some completions. We didn't play a ton of that today.

Playing four full quarters

Question: How do you make sure to play four full quarters with Penn State?

Lanning: It's hard in football, and it doesn't always go like that. You've got to go out there and prepare in practice like you want it to look in the game. There's going to be some highs and lows. There's going to be some ups and downs. It started off a little bit slower today but it finished the way it's supposed to. You might not get those layups or freebies later in the season. We've got to start fast. That's important for us in the future.

Bryce Boettcher

Question: What were your impressions of Bryce Boettcher's impact today?

Lanning: How many did he finish with? Ten tackles today. I think he had like nine in the first half. Bryce was hungry. He's passionate. He wanted to go out there and there's some plays he wants to have back too. There's a couple he missed that he wants to have back. But I know this game meant a lot to Bryce. Probably as much as anybody on our team, just being here from Oregon. I'm proud that he's on our team, proud that we get to coach him and proud of his performance. 

Initial thoughts on the Nittany Lions

Question: What are your initial thoughts on Penn State?

Lanning: They're really talented. Schematically as challenging as anybody we'll play, as far as what they present on both sides of the ball. They play with relentless effort. They play well on special teams. Coach Franklin's teams are always well coached. It will be a real challenge for us, but one we're excited to attack.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Everything Dan Lanning said after the 41-7 win over the Beavers