Dan Lanning reveals how he's keeping team focused ahead of top-10 Oregon-UCLA matchup

Few teams in college football have responded as well to adversity as first-year coach Dan Lanning‘s, after Oregon was smashed 49-3 by defending national champion Georgia in the season opener. Now, a month and a half later, Lanning is readying his squad for a top-10 Oregon-UCLA matchup that will have massive Pac-12 title implications.

The Bruins are unbeaten, while the Ducks have been perfect since that early setback. That’s made the stakes sky high, with even ESPN’s College GameDay slated to be in town.

“It’s there because of an environment that we’ve created,” Lanning said. “It’s there because of the way we’ve played to this point, but that’s all it is. It’s about how you’ve done. It has nothing to do with the outside noise.”

If this week is all about keeping Oregon focused, Lanning should just keep doing whatever he has been.

Focus hasn’t seemed to be an issue at all for the Ducks after that blowout loss to the Bulldogs. Oregon beat then-No. 12 BYU 41-20, survived a tough road game at Washington State and has roared to 5-1 at the midway point.

Of course, the Ducks haven’t dealt with this kind of hype since the preseason. Oregon is a top-10 team again, moving up two spots to No. 10 in this week’s AP Poll.

“It’s no different than when I was a high school coach and we talked about homecoming,” Lanning said. “It’s just another thing to everybody else, but the reality is there’s a game to be played and they’re here to watch the game. The things we can control are on those 55 1/3 field, that 120-yard field. All those things, that’s where that game has to be played.”

Oregon-UCLA matchup has heavy Pac-12 implications

The Pac-12 title race took an interesting turn on Saturday with Utah‘s upset of USC. That win might have elongated the race, which could very well go down to the wire at this point.

Oregon and No. 9 UCLA will square off in a showdown of unbeatens, but there are still several other huge games looming.

“We’ll do a great job. Our guys understand that,” Lanning said. “We’ll put it in a frame of reference. Obviously this game’s fun for a lot of reasons. We get to go out there and fight for a great cause, as well, with the breast cancer awareness jerseys. There’s so many other elements but the reality is we have a game to play, and that’s what our guys are focused on.”

Take care of Saturday and get a leg up and you’re in good shape. Lose and you may need help.

Oregon will still face Utah later this year, while USC will take on UCLA later. All of that leaves potential for some messy tiebreakers atop the league. Or one team could simply take care of business.

For Oregon, Saturday will be the next step on one of those paths.