Dan Lanning explains challenges of beating Ohio State twice

Oregon coach Dan Lanning knows playing a team twice is no easy task and that’s exactly what the Ducks have to do against Ohio State.

The two will square off in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl, with Oregon victorious in the first matchup, 32-31. But, that was by just one point and the Buckeyes are coming in with a vengeance.

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With so much on the line, including Oregon’s undefeated season, Lanning talked about the preparation for a familiar foe.

“I think that’s the double edged sword right,” Lanning said, via Sirius XM. “What do you want to do that’s new and different? And then what do you want to do that really leans into your team’s strengths? So they’ll be doing the same thing on their side, which I think is kind of an equalizer from that standpoint. But this is a great team that we’re going to play. And I think that’s what you want. Moments like this.”

To maintain the status of the best team in the country, Oregon and Lanning have to simply keep winning. If that weren’t blatantly obvious of course.

But Lanning likes to keep it simple.

 “The way you maintain it is you win,” Lanning said. “You do it by focusing on each play, each moment, not making it bigger than it is. Just trying to make sure that you can maintain your focus on what your job is. Everybody has a job for the team, doing that job for your team. If we do that, things will go the right way.”

Since Oregon’s done it once, Lanning knows there’s pressure to do it again and keep the national title hopes alive.

“I think you hope that you can feel that pressure,” Lanning said. “If you’re in moments like this, you’re certainly going to feel pressure. I think anybody who says they’re not, they’re lying. But that’s what you want to coach towards. You want to be in positions where pressure is applied. 

“And Kirby said it before but I agree with him: Pressure is a privilege. If you put yourself in position to where you’re going to have pressure, that’s something you have to be able to handle. And our team’s handled it really well so far, have to continue to do so down the stretch.”