Dan Lanning identifies the biggest thing he wants to see during bowl game

The end of Oregon’s season was not nearly as exciting as its start. After an eight-game win streak following an opening loss, the Ducks tripped twice in two of their final three games. That’s why, from where Dan Lanning is standing, he’s looking for one thing from his team as they wrap up their season in the Holiday Bowl.

Lanning spoke about what he needs to see from his team during an earlier media availability. He kept it short and sweet as his only hope is that his team does everything they can to end on a high note.

“Finish. We want to go finish,” said Lanning. “We want to finish this season with an exclamation point and do a great job of it.

Again, this is likely the case for Lanning because of the way Oregon finished its year. They managed to knock off Utah in their last win but lost to Washington at home the week before and blew a big lead on the road to Oregon State the week after.

Now, with an opportunity against North Carolina in San Diego tomorrow, Lanning wants to end 2022 the right way before moving on to 2023. His team has unfinished business and he wants to see them get the job done one last time before he can move on to anything else with the program.

 Lanning discusses the advantages, challenges of bowl season

Bowl season is incredibly complicated for coaches to deal with. Along with prepping for the game, coaches need to manage the transfer portal, early signing day, finals, and the holiday. As Oregon head coach Dan Lanning explained, there are advantages as well as disadvantages to this time of year.

“The illusion of time is kind of what really exists,” Lanning said. “You feel like you have time because the game is a long way away. But there’s so many other things within the organization. Whether it be Early Signing Day, (the) transition of players in and out, finals, bowl practices.”

So, while it is difficult to balance everything, there are also advantages that teams get out of bowl season. For Oregon, that’s having extra practices plus getting healthy before the game.

“But, the fact that you get to go hit the reset button, really attack some of your weaknesses. (You) treat it almost like an extra spring ball where you can get some additional practices and grow. Just getting healthy. You know, at the end of the season, a lot of guys are banged up. (It) gives you an opportunity to get that (figured out).”