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Dan Lanning critical of Oregon’s process in recap of Week 1 win over Idaho

Sean Labar

By Sean Labar

Published:

Dan Lanning has turned Oregon into one of the ascending teams in college football since he took over as head coach.

Entering his third season leading the Ducks — and the first year Oregon is making the transition to the ultra-talented Big Ten — Lanning boasts an impressive 23-5 record. Last season, Oregon looked like one of the four teams that would make the College Football Playoff all season, with their lone regular season loss coming to Washington.

On Saturday, despite being significant home favorites vs. a less-talented Idaho team from the FCS, the Ducks let the Vandals hang around and come within 3 points of tying the game, making it 17-14 with 9:45 to play in the game.

Ultimately, transfer QB Dillon Gabriel looked great, finishing the day 41-for-49 for 380 yards and 2 TDs in his Oregon debut, with both scoring passes going to wide receiver Tez Johnson. One of those touchdown passes came with just over five minutes remaining and ended up being the game winner.

On Monday, following Oregon’s opening victory for 2024, the official team social media accounts released a video that sent a crisp clear message. Lanning clearly doesn’t believe Saturday’s effort was even close to good enough if the Ducks want to compete in the College Football Playoff this season.

At the end of the video, the camera gives fans a behind-the-scenes look into the Oregon locker room after the win over Idaho. Lanning didn’t sugarcoat his feelings in his postgame message to his squad.

“I’m disappointed in the process tonight, not the result,” Lanning said. “The process, the process wasn’t sharp enough. I’m not going to let you down by saying great win, that’s not the way I feel.”

“Hey they played a good game, credit to them. Do not discredit anything they did. But I want to own our standard. Our standard doesn’t change regardless of who we play.”

Lanning then asked his team aloud “Who are we playing next week?”

The team responded in unison without missing a beat: “us.”

“We are playing us, we’re playing Oregon,” Lanning continued. “So when you play Oregon next week, what’s your measure? What you do, is you dust yourself off and say ‘Here’s where I can get better, here’s what I can do to make my team better.’”

Obviously Lanning was using a metaphor as the Ducks are slated to host Boise State on Saturday night.

The Oregon coach closed out the video with a passionate and clear message to his team.

“Every one of you should be really proud to wear that green, I promise you I’m proud to coach you,” said Lanning. “A great team can learn from wins, don’t make adversity the reason you learn. Can you learn tonight?”

Sean Labar