Dan Lanning says Oregon still has plenty to improve after 42-6 thrashing of Colorado

Oregon made a big statement on and off the field on Saturday with Dan Lanning and his Ducks romping over Colorado and head coach Deion Sanders. Lanning deftly used his pregame speech and halftime remarks to try and twist the knife further.

But after his squad had buried Colorado, 42-6, in a contest that was never really close, Lanning thinks his team still has higher heights it can reach. For an undefeated Ducks squad playing as well as any in the country, being on the precipice of another level of play is a scary thought — but one Lanning shared after the game with sideline reporter Katie George.

“That they’re ready to get better. They’re hungry to get better. We’re certainly not satisfied. This is one game. Now we’re on to the next one. We gotta focus on the next. There’s a lot that we can improve from that game. Fun, energetic on the field. But our guys have a standard to uphold,” Lanning said.

The Ducks also tried to pitch a shutout, but fell just short giving up a touchdown in the dying stages of the game.

Despite that blemish, Lanning was pleased with his defense quieting a Colorado offense that had been prolific to start the year. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders entered averaging 417 yards a game. He finished with 159 on Saturday. He had one passing touchdown while avoiding any interceptions. He was sacked seven times.

“They did a good job. They did a good job. You can’t overshadow that. We’re going to face some elite teams. We’re going to play great quarterbacks in this conference right now, so we’ve certainly got some things to get better on but they did a good job today. They upheld the standard,” Lanning said.

Sanders was straightforward about what happened to his team

After the fact, Sanders was up-front in his assessment from what happened. There was really no hiding from it, anyways.

“It was a good, old-fashioned butt kicking. No excuses, no nothing. Their coaches did a heck of a job preparing their team. Obviously we didn’t. That was good — I mean that was a really good old-fashioned butt kicking,” Sanders said. “We went into the game wanting to dominate phases. We lost offensively, defensively as well as special teams. That fake punt kind of got them really rolling and they didn’t stop ever since they secured that first down.”

All Sanders could do was compliment the Ducks and lament his own teams inability to get things done.

“Well-coached team. Bo Nix played his butt off. Defensively, they presented some things that I guess we just couldn’t get around. We couldn’t advance the ball rushing or throwing the ball as well. Seemed like they had our number. But hats off to their coaching staff and their head coach. Great job, and they were truly prepared,” Sanders said.