Everything Oregon coach Dan Lanning said during Rose Bowl intro press conference

COLUMBUS — Ohio State is set to play Oregon in the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinal as part of the College Football Playoff.

Ducks coach Dan Lanning met with the media for a press conference Monday afternoon, and Lettermen Row has everything Lanning said about the Buckeyes heading into the matchup in Pasadena.

On a rematch with Ohio State…

“Super excited. Getting the opportunity to play great teams, that’s what it’s about. This part of the year, I think when you play great teams, that gives you some extra motivation to go work really hard, to be prepared and ready to be out there on the field. Obviously Ohio State’s a great team and the path to the end is tough, which is exciting for our team and certainly for me.”

On playing a long season…

“I think the real challenge in there has been for me to make sure that I’m keeping our players fresh and our team ready. But our guys are really up for the mental challenge. We’ve got a mature team. I’ve been really proud of the way they’ve prepped all season, and they’ve kind of attacked every single day and put a lot of trust in our coaching staff, on our sports science department, strength staff, that we’re going to have the right plan for them. I’m proud to say this, like several of our players are hitting some of their highest testing numbers this year. We have guys hitting PRs in the weight room, and I think that’s unique at this point in the season, but it speaks to how we’ve been able to adapt and adjust some of our performance stuff throughout the year to make sure that we continue to stay fresh.”

On defensive end Jordan Burch, who missed the first matchup…

“I think just his size and athleticism. God doesn’t make a lot of people that look like Jordan Burch. I think when people see him they’re always surprised to hear that he’s almost 300 pounds because he looks really good at his size. But he plays like a beast on the field. Relentless effort and the fact that we have great depth and several guys that can play edge positions for us, it allows us to make sure that when he’s on the field, he’s fresh. And a fresh Jordan Burch is really dangerous.”

On Buckeyes QB Will Howard…

“I think he has good size, obviously. He’s a big body, it’s hard to get down. More than that, I think he’s built a lot of confidence in the guys that he’s able to throw the ball to, and even some confidence in the quarterback run game. I think you see him utilized a little bit more in the QB run game later in the season. He does a good job of throwing good balls. He certainly threw a lot of good balls the other night down the field and was able to target those wideouts for explosive plays down the field. He’s playing really good football right now. Certainly played really good football against Tennessee.”

On Ohio State and differences between October and now…

“I won’t really get into the differences, but they’re a really good team. I don’t know if there’s a more talented team in the nation. Obviously they’ve got great weapons outside at wideout and across the board, their tight end’s a big target. The running backs are elite. I think they’ve settled in with their offensive line, and that’s really shown up. And then defensively they play with relentless effort. They’ve got talent across the board at really every position. Schematically they they pitch a lot of different things to you on both sides of the ball that stress you. The ability to play with tempo at times on offense, and then slow it down and come out of a huddle. The shifts and motions, all those things show up. And then defensively, they kind of keep their foot on the gas whether it’s a pressure mentality at times, and then coverage mentality at times. It seems like they’re they’re in the right call a lot of the time. So they do a good job on both sides of the ball with their coordinators and their players do a good job of executing.”