Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are preparing to take on Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game. This is a notable accomplishment for the Ducks, who have made the championship game in their first season as a member of the B1G.

As a result, the Big Ten Network’s Jake Butt thinks Lanning is the “face” of college football.

“We don’t talk that much about Oregon considering how good they’ve been this year,” said Butt. “Oregon is the new team here in the conference and Dan Lanning has kicked down the door and done it his way.”

In Oregon’s first season in the conference, the team went 12-0 in the regular season. A shoo-in for the College Football Playoff, the team will look to stay perfect by defeating the Nittany Lions in the B1G Championship Game.

Butt then mentioned the fact that Nick Saban is retired and Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL. According to Butt, this means that Lanning is the new face of college football.

“He’s (Lanning) the face of college football,” said Butt. “It’s unbelievably impressive to watch what he’s got going on.”

Lanning was hired as Oregon’s head coach before the 2022 season. This was Lanning’s first HC job, but you couldn’t tell by looking at his record. As the head coach at Oregon, Lanning has compiled a 34-5 overall record.

Of course, Lanning made his major rise as an elite assistant in the SEC. He was on Kirby Smart’s Georgia staff from 2018-21, including the final 3 seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs.

The coach will now look to add a Big Ten title and possibly a national championship to his list of accomplishments. The Ducks and Nittany Lions will kick off from Indianapolis on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET.