Dan Lanning addresses challenge of facing USC with new defensive play-caller

USC is going to look a little different against Oregon than they did last Saturday against Washington. Lincoln Riley made a move at defensive coordinator, firing Alex Grinch and promoting Shaun Nua and Brian Odom to finish out the season. With two new people running the system, there is going to be an element of mystery for head coach Dan Lanning when preparing the offensive game plan.

Thankfully, Lanning does believe there is a game Oregon can watch and get an idea of how USC will call their defensive plays. Back when Riley left Oklahoma for USC, Odom was still in Norman helping them prepare for the Alamo Bowl against — funnily enough — Oregon.

“Coach Odom has actually called them before,” Lanning said. “Last time Oregon played against Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. So, I think there will be a lot of similarities to some of the stuff that they already do. I think that group will probably have some new wrinkles that we haven’t potentially seen.”

Oregon did have a good offensive day on Dec. 29, 2021 vs. Oklahoma. They put up nearly 500 yards on offense and 32 points. Sure, the Ducks were on the losing end but Lanning will not be looking at the result. His hope will be to find tendencies from Odom’s play calling that day and expose them on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.

But at the end of the day, Lanning’s main message to the offense is to make sure they play true to their identity. No matter what USC throws out there on defense, he wants Oregon to play the way they have all season.

“It all comes back to what football is all about,” Lanning said. “Tackling, blocking, breaking tackles, making catches. So, all of those things are going to hold true and we have to play to our identity. I hope when people watch this team, really on both sides of the ball, they see an identity. And our identity has to hold true regardless of what scheme we see against us.”

The bottom line regarding USC’s defense has been that it’s not very good. Teams have been able to score at will, with Washington’s 52 being the latest example. Most teams have to get in a shootout to pull off a win against the Trojans.

Oregon will be hoping to pick up USC’s defensive game plan quickly and adjust. Bo Nix has been flying all season and could be in for another big day.