Dan Lanning discusses second half adjustments for Oregon in tight battle with Washington

The Oregon Ducks struggled mightily in the first half against the Washington Huskies on Saturday night and trailed 13-10 heading into the locker room. The Husky defense did an excellent job of not allowing homerun plays by the Oregon offense and kept them out of rhythm for most of the half. Oregon only had 208 total yards of offense in the first half–the fewest they’ve had in the opening half since Week 1. Fox Sports sideline reporter Allison Williams spoke with Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning and he gave his thoughts on the second half adjustments Oregon needed to make.

“Well guys I talked to Dan Lanning about the balance he’s seen in that Washington offense. And he said it definitely stood out to him. They need to do a better job on the third and short situations and also when they get a chance to get Michael Penix, Jr. to the ground they have to get him down. They can’t let him hurt them with his feet. Now offensively, at the line of scrimmage for Oregon. He said they’ve seen Washington just really getting off the ball fast. They’re rushing upfield. They’ve been aggressive in the passing game which has allowed them to hit some of those run plays. He said they’ll have to continue to do that in the second half. He also said they also need to start varying their cadence here a little bit at the line of scrimmage,” Williams said about her conversation with Lanning.

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Give the Washington coaches and players plenty of credit. They came out and played a hard-fought game. Rivalry games in college football are wildly unpredictable. While the Oregon offense heated up in the second half, so did the Washington offense. Huskies’ quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. threw for 408 passing yards–the most passing yards ever by a quarterback in Washington history against Oregon.

Oregon ended up losing to Washington on Saturday night, 37-34, in a Pac-12 thriller.