Dan Lanning knows Oregon will have a challenge from Wisconsin’s secondary in Week 12, in particular star cornerback Ricardo Hallman. However, Lanning also knows the Ducks will need to utilize all portions of the field to maintain their high efficiency.

At his Monday press conference, Lanning was specifically asked about Hallman and the recent trend of teams avoiding his side of the field.

Last season, Hallman led FBS with 7 interceptions and recorded 5 pass breakups. This season, he has not recorded a pick in the first 9 games with just 4 pass breakups as teams have opted to avoid throwing in his direction.

Lanning admitted there is something “probably smart” about avoiding a guy with the ability to make plays on the ball like Hallman. However, he also knows the need to make things challenging for a defense by trying all sides of the field.

“Yeah, I think that that’s probably smart, right, as a football coach, not to throw a guy that’s gonna make a lot of plays at the ball. Meanwhile, how many picks did he have last year, seven? You know, guy had seven picks last year,” said Lanning. “And, you know, why not throw the other direction? That makes a little bit of sense, that being said, you know, I think it’s much more challenging for a defense whenever you can work the entire field, but there’s a reason people aren’t testing him, because he’s a talented player.”

The challenge for the Badgers isn’t just tied to Hallman on the backend. Wisconsin also has a talented safety duo, headlined by Hunter Wohler.

Wohler makes plays all over the field and is 2nd on the Badgers with 51 total tackles while leading the team with 6 pass breakups. It adds up to one of the best secondaries Oregon will face all year, a challenge Lanning acknowledged ahead of the week.

“Well, they’re good tacklers. They do a great job disguising coverage, and they have some good mix ups there,” Lanning said about the Badger safeties. “But, yeah, I think this is one of the more talented secondaries that we’ve seen. I think they play really well together. Understand how to handle adjustments, which I think is always important in football. You see that show up with them.”

The good news for Oregon is that the offense is suited to give Wisconsin fits in other areas. The Badgers are 2nd-to-last in the B1G in rushing defense at 164.56 yards per game and over 4.7 yards per carry. That opens an opportunity for Oregon’s ground game which is averaging just shy of 170 yards per game and over 4.8 YPC this season.

And should the Ducks need to lean into their passing game, they have a Heisman Trophy candidate and the FBS leader in completion percentage (74.1%) with Dillon Gabriel. We’ll see how Oregon dials it up this week with a shot to stay undefeated.

(H/T 247Sports)