Dan Lanning assesses Oregon's play in first quarter vs. Oregon State

The Civil War is back and potentially with a different feeling. Oregon is now a member of the Big Ten while Oregon State is looking to reconstruct the Pac-12. None of this affects the on-field intensity, though, as after one quarter, the two teams are deadlocked at seven a piece.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was asked to assess his team’s performance through 15 minutes, beginning with the offense. One of his big keys heading into the matchup was playing clean. Just one full drive took place for the Ducks in the first quarter, resulting in a touchdown.

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Lanning wants to see more of the same moving forward.

“Just our ability to play clean,” Lanning said. “We talked about playing clean coming into this game. So far, they had a nice clean drive that first opportunity. We got to take advantage of it again.”

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Shortly after Lanning’s interview, quarterback Dillon Gabriel won a foot race down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown. You can add a Lanning-esque two-point conversion on the PAT as well, expanding the Oregon lead to 15-7.

Just the type of play Lanning wants from his quarterback in a rivalry game on the road.

Flipping to the defensive side, Lanning believes a huge key will be third-down efficiency. Oregon State will want to run some clock and grind out possessions. If Oregon can get them off the field on third down, the Beavers’ game plan gets thrown out the window.

“We got to stop them on first down,” Lanning said. “We had some opportunities on third down. We didn’t get stops there. Got to control the quarterbacks on the scrambles.”

Usually, this game is played on the final weekend of the regular season. Conference realignment has caused for a September matchup to take place ahead of the Ducks beginning Big Ten play. At the worst, it’s a road test for Lanning’s team — a place they have lost before.

Oregon State has won the last two matchups in Corvallis. The 2022 game was with Lanning as the head coach and back in 2020, Mario Cristobal was in charge of Oregon. Coaching changes have taken place for the Beavers as well.

Nothing but positive words from Lanning thus far, mainly for his offensive guys. But there is still a lot of football to be played. Getting off to a fast start in the second quarter certainly helps their cause.