Dan Lanning shares his thoughts ahead of Civil War matchup vs. Oregon State

The Oregon Ducks have been waiting a full year for their chance for revenge on the Oregon State Beavers. While the Ducks are one of the most balanced teams in all of college football this year, they’ll have a tough test on Friday night in the 16th-ranked Oregon State Beavers and their dominant ground attack. Ahead of the highly anticipated matchup on Friday night, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning shared his thoughts with Allison Williams of FOX.

“What an opportunity. What an opportunity for our seniors that worked so hard. We’re gonna send them off the right way. I know Autzen Stadium’s gonna be loud tonight. We’re ready to hear it,” Lanning said.

The painful sting of last year’s loss to the Beavers has to be fresh in the Ducks’ minds. What must they do better against the run game than they did last year? “Well separate and make plays. Right? We’ve been working really hard all week. I know these guys are hungry for a physical game. They like physical football, so we’ll see tonight,” Lanning said.

Oregon jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half. They were in control for much of the first half, dominating the time of possession. They would have been up 17-0, but their kicker missed a field goal, something that has been easily the weakest point on the Ducks’ roster this year.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix had a 14-yard touchdown toss to Bucky Irving in the first quarter. And he had a 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Ducks a 14-0 advantage with 14:20 remaining in the first half.

Oregon State countered with a methodical drive late in the first half. The Beavers scored a touchdown with 54 seconds left in the second quarter, after D.J. Uiagalelei connected with Silas Bolden to cut the lead to 14-7.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix came back down the field and threw a beautifully lofted ball rolling to his right, across his body, 30-40 yards across the field. He connected with wide receiver Troy Franklin on a 41-yard touchdown toss with eight seconds left in the first half. The Ducks took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the first half, Nix completed 18 of 22 passes for 190 yards, while tossing two touchdowns and tacking on a rushing touchdown.

Oregon dominated the time of possession 18:47 to 11:13 in the first half. The Ducks also managed 291 yards of total offense, and the Beavers only had 95 total yards of offense in the first half.