Dan Lanning breaks down decisions on field goals, fourth-down attempts

Dan Lanning had plenty to answer for regarding his decision-making, which led to Oregon’s 36-33 loss at Washington over the weekend.

Multiple times throughout the game, the Ducks opted to go for it on fourth down, instead of kicking field goals or relying on their defense. Speaking with the media afterwards, Lanning attempted to explain himself.

“We felt that was an opportunity for us to get a touchdown, and a touchdown changes the game. Obviously, we’re probably not talking about it if that was a touchdown,” Lanning said, regarding Oregon going for it before halftime. “That being said, the one before half is the one where you really can go back and say, ‘Let’s go back and take that field goal.’ I’m going to assess. Evaluate. We checked to see if we liked the look.

“We liked the look before we ran the play. We had a timeout, if we didn’t like the look. We liked the look, and we just didn’t execute.”

While it was his team who didn’t execute on the field, Lanning stated that he’ll go back and evaluate the job he did, and see what he can do better moving forward in those situations.

“I think I’ll always go back and evaluate myself. Say, ‘Okay, what can I do different?’ That being said, you know from a probability standpoint, how we felt about the looks that we were getting, we felt like we had a chance to have success,” added Lanning. “In both situations, or really in all the situations today where we went for it on fourth, we had an opportunity to call timeout, if we didn’t like what we saw. There were some confusion on the last play. It was handed off. We actually had a check that didn’t get checked or executed properly, so didn’t get that. But you know, mastered. But I’ll certainly go back and evaluate myself and it’s about adapting.

“The game is about adapting, and figuring out where you can be better. You can take one of those field goals early on,  and we’re looking at probably a little bit different of a situation.”

Regardless, the loss doesn’t completely remove Oregon from the College Football Playoff, but the Ducks won’t be able to stomach another one. Dan Lanning and company will have to be perfect from here on out.

Paul Finebaum reacts to Dan Lanning’s decisions in loss to Washington

Moreover, Paul Finebaum opened ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday by saying that Lanning is what, or better yet who, stood out to him this weekend. He understood both sides of it as, in hindsight, he knows the Ducks didn’t win in the end but did also note that he did what many coaches are too afraid to do.

“I think if you look at it in total? You understand and appreciate his aggressiveness – and he almost pulled it off. But the sum total of it was extremely negative,” Finebaum said.

“I, frankly, didn’t object to his last call – just try to win the game right here. Too many coaches play games. A three-yard reception? The game’s over,” said Finebaum. “But it was more the call earlier. He just looked like he was just way too reckless.”

In the end, Oregon only lost this game by three points and could have sent it to overtime had Camden Lewis made his kick at the buzzer. That’s why, with all aspects and outcomes considered, Finebaum did come away with some level of admiration for Lanning and the gambles that he took in a high-stakes matchup.

“I still came away respecting Dan Lanning, though. I respect this guy,” said Finebaum. “At the end of the afternoon, are you going to tell me Washington is better than Oregon? I mean it was an amazing game.”

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.