By Kyle Golik
As Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walked on stage for Oregon’s inaugural Big Ten Media Days back in July, he knew he had to give a proper introduction of his team. “Ultimately, what should the Big Ten know about Oregon?” Lanning said, “ We’re mighty different, mighty different in a lot of ways. You look out there in the pond, you’ll see a big old duck. I hope we get to travel that duck to all our away games this year.”
“We’re mighty different when it comes to the jerseys we get to wear or the facilities we’re in. We’re innovative. We’ve always been on the cutting edge of everything we do. We certainly positioned ourself to be on the cutting edge, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Big Ten.”
It was a rocky start for Lanning’s Ducks at the beginning of the season. Idaho made it a game in Week 1, making Oregon one-dimensional by eliminating the Ducks’ ground attack and not able to pressure Idaho in mistake until late.
In Oregon’s first-ever win against Boise State, Oregon fumbled the ball twice, missed an extra point, committed nine penalties, allowed four sacks, and could not limit all-word running back Ashton Jeanty, who rushed for three touchdowns. Since the Oregon game, Jeanty has proven to be the best running back in college football, outpacing previous Heisman Trophy winners and All-Americans who has 1,031 yards, 16 touchdowns, and is averaging 10.3 yards per carry so far through five games. I feel Oregon can be forgiven there.
Oregon entered The Civil War needing to provide a statement. They were not only a good team but they wanted to shed any overrated label they may have earned up to that point. Oregon not only had a statement win, but it was an important boost for the Ducks’ season.
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Since Oregon State, Oregon has outscored the opposition 114 to 37. After allowing Jeanty to run all over them, the Oregon run defense has allowed 79 yards per game in the last three games, allowing opponents only 2.8 yards per carry.
Offensively, Oregon has found a rhythm in the ground game. During the first two weeks, Idaho (107) and Boise State (109) kept Oregon’s ground game in check. Since then Oregon is averaging 205 rushing yards per game, almost doubling what they averaged the first two weeks by averaging nearly six yards per carry.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who led the Big XII in completion percentage a season ago at Oklahoma, leads the nation in completion percentage at 77.8%. Gabriel did not have his best performance against Michigan State completing a season-low 62.5% of his passes (20 of 32 passing) for 257 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Lanning commented on Gabriel’s two interceptions saying he appreciated his experience and ability to reset his mind from the bad plays to get ready to compete again. During the game, Gabriel took a big hit that knocked the wind out of him and temporarily had to come out. His toughness to get back in there had Lanning talking postgame.
“I mean, he’s a tough kid, man. You saw tonight, had the wind knocked out of him a little bit on that play, and he was ready to go right on the field. I said, ‘Hey, hang tight. Let’s buy some time. Make sure we get our next play call ready to go.’ So he probably could have ran off a lot earlier, but we had like a Rod Tidwell moment, or isn’t that what it is from Jerry Maguire, right? I mean, I said ‘Hang tight. Let’s get our next play call figured out first.’ So Dillon’s a tough kid, did a really good job.”
As the realization sat in that Ohio State was next, Lanning commented he would enjoy the Michigan State win until midnight and then move onto planning for Ohio State. Lanning appreciated his team not overlooking Michigan State:
“I think they’ve done a really good job of not listening to you guys (the media), right? But finally, you guys can talk about it. We’re finally there, right? We’re going to play them now. So it’s a great team. Obviously, they do a lot of things. There’s a reason they’re one of the best teams in the country, so it’s gonna be a great challenge for us and our fans are gonna have to show up and be phenomenal.”
Lanning felt Oregon’s 31-10 win over Michigan State was the most complete Oregon has had in all facets of the game all season. This is the right time to be in this position as Oregon. As Lanning put back at Media Days, they chase and attack all challenges. The biggest one lies ahead for Oregon. A win will be a springboard back to Indianapolis, this tie for the Big Ten Championship Game.
