Dan Lanning evaluates OLs Marcus Harper, Jackson Powers-Johnson in place of Ryan Walk

After Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks‘ were dismantled in their season opener against Lanning’s former team, the Georgia Bulldogs; the Ducks had an impressive bounce-back performance against Eastern Washington. Oregon pulled off the commanding 70-14 with one of their key pieces missing from their offensive line Ryan Walk. In his place, both Marcus Harper and Jackson Powers-Johnson alternated throughout the game. Lanning was impressed by what he saw out of his two young OLs and gave his evaluation on their performance during a recent press conference.

“Yeah, they’re both smart players and play with the level of aggression. Jackson, at times, he’s a bull in a China shop. I think he would tell you the same thing,” said Lanning. “I love his passion and energy for football; he loves the game. He loves playing ball, and you see that show up on film.

“I think there’s a couple of plays that both of those guys would like to have back. Whether it be on our counter plays and opportunities to kick the defensive ends properly. Those guys did a good job playing against us on some of those counter-looks. We had an illegal man downfield a couple of times on looks. We gotta be aware of the call, so we don’t do that. But overall, I’m impressed with their effort; wanting to see them both continue to clean up the technical piece of the game.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Next for the Ducks is another tough test, this time against the BYU Cougars. BYU jumped to No.12 after upsetting Baylor at home Saturday night. If Walk is unable to go against the Cougars, Lanning has two solid young players ready to step up and fill his role on the o-line.

Lanning discusses Oregon’s preparation for showdown with BYU

Lanning met with reporters on Monday for his weekly press conference ahead of the No. 25 Oregon Ducks’ looming matchup with No. 12 BYU.

Oregon, fresh off a bounceback win over Eastern Washington in Eugene, has stabilized a bit after a difficult start to the season. The Ducks delivered a sensational offensive performance in Week 2 and looked much better defensively than they did in the season-opening loss to No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta.

Lanning was pleased with the improvements he saw in Week 2, but said there is still plenty of room to grow.

“We had to get better after Week 1, and regardless of the result, we’re really process-oriented,” Lanning said. “There’s a lot of things we still want to get better at from Week 2. We want to play for 60 minutes, or as long as it takes in this game. We want to use as many bodies as possible to contribute and help us.”

Watch Lanning’s full press conference below.