Dan Lanning reveals what he's learned about Oregon through five weeks

Despite the loss to open the season, the Oregon Ducks are off to an impressive start under first-year head coach Dan Lanning. In those games, Oregon knocked off two Pac-12 rivals, Stanford and Washington State, and a top 25 ranked BYU squad. As the Ducks get further into their conference schedule, we are learning more and more about the team, as is their head coach. Recently Lanning revealed what he’s learned about his Oregon squad in the first five weeks.

“It’s a continually growing process for us. But overall, I think we see we can win in a variety of ways,” said Lanning. “Obviously, we ran the ball really well and didn’t connect on some of the shots we had downfield that we had done the week before. So, the fact that we can be a team that does things in a variety of ways and still have success, I think that’s a positive for us. You can’t take away one thing and limit our ability to be successful.”

“Still want to see that sustained focus; that level of play through four quarters. And it really doesn’t matter who’s on the field for us. That standard doesn’t change. So, I want to see us continue to develop our roster where we can play at a high level throughout the game. But we’re getting there, and we’re building.”

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Oregon scored just three points in their season opener but since then have not been held to fewer than 41 points, giving them an average just above 40 points per game. The Ducks have scored 26 touchdowns on the season, 12 passing and 14 rushing. As far as yards go, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has 1,261 yards through the air, and as a team, they have rushed for 1144 yards.

The numbers show that under Lanning, Oregon has found a balance between their rushing and passing attacks and that their offense is just as potent as ever. The next part that needs to come into focus for the Ducks is on the defensive end, where they have allowed over 40 points in two games of their five games. If Lanning can get his team to focus defensively, there is no reason why Oregon can’t be in the mix for the Pac-12 title.