<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3tRqUs_0w4ymxUx00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3tRqUs_0w4ymxUx00" width="1182" height="619" ><p>Following one of the program's biggest wins, <a href="https://247sports.com/college/oregon/">Oregon</a> head coach <a href="https://247sports.com/Coach/dan-lanning-3823/">Dan Lanning</a> met with reporters post-game to discuss the Ducks' defense of Autzen Stadium. </p><p>Lanning discussed the importance of this game, how this sets them up for the rest of the season, Dillon Gabriel's performance, and more. </p><p>Below is a complete transcript of Lanning's press conference with questions and quotes. </p><h2>Opening statement:</h2><p>Lanning: "Anybody got a heartbeat monitoring? What an unbelievable atmosphere tonight. Our fans, man, they made such a difference. We're so proud of them. We talked all week with our players about taking jabs. Taking jabs, it's not about throwing haymakers. It's about being accurate and precise with jabs and just the next play is the most important play. I thought they really owned that tonight. We talked about coming in this game that we have to outrush our opponent. We have to out physical our opponent. We outrushed Ohio State. We talked about field position in this game and how important that was going to be. I thought we gave them some long fields, and that is a great team that we just played. A lot of credit to Coach Day and the team that he's assembled and put together. They're really, really good, right? And there's going to be, we talked about before this game even was played, regardless of result, everything's still on the table, you know, for both teams. So I know that they're going to put themselves in position to continue to compete and and be in great shape the rest of the season. But I couldn't be more proud of our guys. I couldn't be more proud of our coaches. I couldn't be more proud of just getting the opportunity to get to sit in the seat I sit in because there's moments I certainly don't deserve it. And I thought our team was just unbelievable tonight. So thank you for that atmosphere, and we can open it up middle."</p><p><b>Q: What were your thoughts on Jordan James and the offensive line's performance?</b></p><p>Lanning: "Jordan man, he runs like he's pissed off all the time. And we see it every day in practice. Before the game started, he came up to me and said, 'Coach, I got you.' And I know when he says that he meant it. And he took advantage of those opportunities he got today, and he would be the first to tell you about the schematic advantages that coach Stein, the offensive staff created, the blocking that coach Terry's crew did, the O-Line. Again, I'm gonna go back and watch this film. I'm gonna try to find how many times we see 11 guys with their hats on somebody, giving us an opportunity to be able to create a big run, and Jordan was a beast tonight. I'm really proud of him."</p><h2>Q: Can you put into words how rewarding this feeling is?</h2><p>Lanning: "What's so hard about football is this game is such an emotional game. It's such an impactful game. And in moments like this, where you want to be filled with complete joy, the relief is one of the biggest feelings you feel. Because of how hard your guys worked, how bad you know they wanted it. But it's never about the team that wants it the most. It's never about the team that just has great emotion. It's about the team that executes. So, you know, I'm filled with great excitement. I'm really proud of our guys, but I'm also really excited to, you know, figure out what we can go attack and improve because the team we are today, on October 12, is not going to be the same team we are in December."</p><p><b>Q: Walk us through Gabriel's touchdown run and how that put Ohio State's safeties into conflict?</b></p><p>Lanning: "Yeah, unbelievable decision there by Dillon. You hope that you give an opportunity for your players to see every look that they can possibly see within a week, but it's just not reality. So I don't know how many times Dillon actually got to see that exact look. A tight crash, you know, from the edge, but he did an unbelievable job pulling the ball there in that moment. And then again, if you look at that play, you're going to see guys with bodies on bodies down the field, blocking their tail off for him so he can create a big play."</p><p><b>Q: What happened on the last offensive possession and when did you decide to go for the points?</b></p><p>Lanning: "We were trying to score a touchdown the whole time, right? But we knew it was an advantage to keep the clock running, so they'd have to utilize their timeouts and wouldn't have as many opportunities left there at the end. We felt like they could really come out with a lot of options, that they had all three timeouts there at the end. So we were trying to score, you know, we were trying to score on the last play there on a third downplay at the goal line. And they were able to get a great stop. So we kicked field goal and said, 'Let's play defense.'</p><p><b>Q: How were you guys able to get past Jordan Burch's injury and how did you think your defensive line did in his absence?</b></p><p>Lanning: "I mean, again, that's a really talented team that we just played, and Jordan is certainly a loss for us. You don't replace a Jordan. He's been unbelievable this season. But you know, in football, it's about the next man up. And I know Jordan's probably sitting at home just as proud of these guys being able to do the next man up mentality. And we thought there might be a chance that we would be able to see him out there. We weren't able to see him out there, but we always want to protect our players first, and Jordan is just; you talk about the year that young man's having. I hurt for him, because I know how much he wanted to be a part of this moment. But talk about next man up and some guys showed up tonight."</p><h2>Q: How were you guys able to manage those momentum swings all night?</h2><p>Lanning: "Talk about a heavyweight fight, right? A heavyweight fight in this game, and we knew it could go every round, and it was. It was a back and forth. When you play a really good team, you have to be all battling tight games like this. And there's some decisions that could go one way or the other. I'm sure people have thoughts on but we played aggressive tonight. We played to win the game, and our guys went out there and executed in critical moments. So again, I can't say enough great things about that team that we just played, that's an elite football team that we just played. They're really, really talented. They don't have weaknesses, but our guys did just enough tonight to be able to edge it out."</p><p><b>Q: How do you prepare a team knowing that a loss here doesn't end the season with the new CFP rules?</b></p><p>Lanning: "I mean, like again, like I said, again, we knew that regardless of result of this game, every single one of our goals were in front of us, right? But certainly having a win affects your ability to accomplish your goals later on in the season. We always go into every game with the mindset of, what can we do? Everything that we can do to prepare to win a game. I thought our guys were prepared all week. Unbelievable. I think they worked really hard in the week. This isn't one of those weeks where you got to motivate guys to work. And this isn't one of those teams that I have to go motivate to work. They embrace it. There's been moments this season where I'm telling the guys, 'Hey, we're going to be in spiders this week.' They're like, 'No coach, we're going to be in pads.' When you have moments like that, that's when you realize you got a team that's going to be really successful."</p><h2>Q: Talk about Dillon Gabriel's performance tonight.</h2><p>Lanning: "I can't say enough great things about Dillon. And Dillon, again, will be the first one to start talking about his teammates. But every time I went and looked at his eyes tonight, I saw a guy was composed, ready for his next moment. And he threw for what, 340 yards, two touchdowns? He had a huge pull in that run, you know, down in the red area. You know, he played really, really well tonight, and some really big moments. So proud of his performance. And I know he'd be willing to tell you these proud about the people that were around him that helped that performance, you know, be possible." </p><h2>Q: What happened on the Jeffrey Bassa interception or non-interception play?</h2><p>Lanning: "I mean, I thought there might be a review on the field. I feel like they missed that opportunity. And we're trying to get information from on top of if they can see it. You hate to waste the time out that early if you're wrong with a potential challenge, but that's certainly one that you hope gets buzzed in when it's that close. And it didn't, and I'm not sure why, but you know, again, it's about the next play. So we got pretty excited about that play. We almost didn't get back to the next play. But you know, those things happen."</p><p><b>Q: What could Dillon Gabriel's performance do for your team moving forward?</b></p><p>Lanning: "Yeah, you know, consistent performance, right? And the game of football is about what you've done for me lately. So, for you know, for him, it's about continued growth. And I know he'll be a guy that attacks that more than anybody else. And you want to enjoy this moment for a little bit. It's a special moment tonight, but it's about building on it, and I know Dillon will be the first one to attack that and find ways to improve his game."</p><p><b>Q: Is there a sense of validation of how you're building the program with a win like tonight's?</b></p><p>Lanning: "I think I say this a lot, that winning football is winning football. I don't care about anybody else's opinion, right? It's one thing that we're not really big on, is what anybody else thinks. So we don't need validation from everyone else. But we do believe in value validation of the process. So we go back and evaluate our process tonight. You know, we're gonna find the moments that we thought we got better. We're finding things that we can go improve on and attack."</p><p><b>Q: Can you sort of describe the feeling of this win on a long day with GameDay and everything else?</b></p><p>Lanning: "I felt like there was a lot of questions in there, but I'll just say, maybe there weren't. But I mean, you can sleep when you die, right? You get an opportunity to do this, like the day that we got to have today. Like, how awesome is Oregon? How awesome is getting a coach at this place? Our fans, our players and those guys work so dang hard to get moments like this. And again, you might not believe me, but regardless of the result, I was going to be so proud of our guys and how they competed tonight because I know how hard they work, right? I asked before the game to leave it all in the field. Give me everything you got. And they did that tonight."</p><h2>Q: What was going through your mind as the game was over?</h2><p>Lanning: "It was a fun moment, man. It's a fun moment that I know that everyone in that stadium that's wearing green got to enjoy and celebrate, and everybody that worked so hard got to enjoy. And for me, you know, that's the rewarding part, is that so many other people can share joy in a moment like that. You know, our players, our fans, the people this program means so much to,that's as much for them as anybody else, and I was glad that they got to have that moment tonight."</p><h2>Q: Can you walk us through the onside kick there in the second quarter?</h2><p>Lanning: "Yeah, so it was intentional, you know, you could go back in second guess; we felt strong about the gate play that we had going in. So we had the ability to potentially move the ball up and do a two-point conversion from a little bit shorter, or take the 15-yard penalty on the kickoff. And, you know, I felt confident in our in our kickoff option, that there's a great chance that we might be able to hit one of their players and get the ball to bounce back. If it doesn't hit one of them, it's going to be a squib opportunity to pin them inside the 20. So feeling good about, you know, the gate play that we had called. Kenyon gets tripped up. I think they did a good job of making a play in the backfield. We didn't get that. And that's definitely one that everybody can kind of go back to the second guess. Do you take that penalty and get a little bit closer to the end zone for the opportunity to go for two? But that probably eliminates that kick from the 50 where we're hitting a player. So thought is a great example of our guys not flinching. They knew when we were kicking from the 50 exactly what the plan was. Hey, we're going to try to kick one right off this guy. If it doesn't hit him, we have an opportunity to pin them deep, you know, inside, inside the 20, and they executed a really high level."</p><h2>Q: What does this win mean to the University of Oregon?</h2><p>Lanning: "Yeah, huge man. Oregon's a winner. And our fans, I mean they were up 10 at night, camping out for GameDay, that experience. You know, up early this morning, unbelievable crowd this morning, all the way through the game, right? I don't know if anybody sat down the entire game, but we felt them the entire game. I mean, I had to cover my ear. I wear a single earpiece. I had to cover my ear a lot of the game to be able to communicate and hear and that's a good thing. So we asked them to yell from the minute they got into the minute they left, and they did an unbelievable job."</p><h2>Q: What can you say about Evan Stewart tonight?</h2><p>Lanning: "I'm proud of him, man, and maybe more proud that up until this moment, there's been moments where Evan hasn't been able to break out. There's been moments where maybe the ball didn't get to him or it didn't fall his way. And you never once hear Evan say anything about that. You know, he knew when his opportunity came, he'd get an opportunity to take advantage of it, and he took advantage of his opportunities, and he was a weapon out there for us, and really proud of that performance."</p><p><b>Q: What have you seen from Dillon Gabriel that's allowed him to perform so well in these big games?</b></p><p>Lanning: "It's hard to replace experience, right? This guy's been a part of some games that are really, really big moments. And even though that stadium is packed, you know, you feel like Dillon was out there operating with an empty place, you know, an empty stadium. Like this was Tuesday. Like this was another practice. Just executing a high level being able to say the next play is the most important play. And he did that consistently tonight, you know, focus on what's next, and how can you accomplish it."</p><p><b>Q: What stands out to you about this program's journey from that trip to Atlanta two years ago to now?</b></p><p>Lanning: "There's been a lot of growth, but I'd say we're not done right, and there's a lot more to do. And I think everybody in that locker room feels that same way. Am I pleased with the growth that we've had so far? Absolutely, and every single person's a part of that, right? Not me, not just our coaches, not just our players, it's the whole community, the whole University of Oregon, our fans, elite players making the decision to come here and they got options to go anywhere in the United States. All those things add up. And we always talk about one plus one plus one, right? That's how you get real gains, and everything matters. From the fans, from the people help clean this building, from the support staff that don't get paid and sleep on the couch. Every piece adds up, and when everybody pulls their weight, you can get great results, like you did tonight."</p><h2>Q: What did you see tonight from the defensive line to limit the rushing game?</h2><p>Lanning: "That was a really big focus for us. If you look at their six losses, I think, in the last three years, and every one of those losses, their opponent outrushed them. So that was something that we were really focused on. And we had to come in here and be a more physical team. And we knew they were going to be hard to run against, but we also knew we were never going to abandon the run and continue to focus on so that was a goal all week for us to outrush our opponent, and our guys did that tonight."</p><p><b>Q: Your offense had a bunch of plays over 30 yards, what did you see gameplanning that allowed you to do that?</b></p><p>Lanning: "I think sometimes when you play an offense like this, your first answer is you want to be aggressive and take away everything. And we knew that if we played the game like that, that we were going to give up some explosive plays. So we wanted to wait. Wanted to take opportunities to pitch to them. And I think if you look really, their offense was in rhythm, probably at times, maybe better even than ours. I think they had a lot of first downs. It wasn't like bleeding slow death for us. We wanted to be aggressive, but aggressive in moments. And again, look for the right times to throw haymakers, but making sure that we eliminated explosive plays. I thought coach Lupoi did a really good job of that tonight. The defensive staff did a really good job of, you know, calming ourselves and not feeling like we had to be extremely aggressive in moments when it didn't dictate those moments for us being aggressive. And again, you have to be able to win up front to be able to do that, you got to be able to do more with less. And we had some guys in front that did more with less tonight... If you see any good players tell them to come here."</p></div></body>

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Everything Oregon HC Dan Lanning said after victory over No. 2 Ohio State

Following one of the program's biggest wins, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters post-game to discuss the Ducks' defense of Autzen Stadium. Lanning discussed the importance of this game, how this sets them up for the rest of the season, Dillon Gabriel's performance, and more. Below is a...

Everything Oregon HC Dan Lanning said after victory over No. 2 Ohio State

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