What Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said about Buckeyes
COLUMBUS — No. 2 Ohio State will hit the road this weekend to face No. 3 Oregon in Autzen Stadium. The highly-anticipated matchup is expected to be the game of the year in the Big Ten — and maybe in college football this fall.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with the media Monday evening to preview the matchup against the Buckeyes.
“Big game here. We’re certainly excited for this opportunity. I thought this atmosphere was unbelievable last week [in the Ducks’ win over Michigan State on Friday night]. Had the chance to review some stuff from last weekend and there are a lot of areas for growth. This is a big challenge for us and I know our fans will be great.”
What else did Lanning say about Ohio State? Find out here.
Lanning believes Ohio State offense is versatile under Chip Kelly
Dan Lanning can see all the ways this Ohio State offense can attack and stress defenses.
“You can’t take away one thing knowing that something else is a strength as well,” Lanning said. “They’re not really limited by what their strengths are and they have a lot of threats. Be aware of when that risk is worth it or not for our defense.”
Of course, the Buckeyes are led on offense by coordinator Chip Kelly, who is the former head coach at Oregon.
“He’s always done a great job utilizing his personnel,” Lanning said of Kelly. “He always finds unique ways to run the ball. He keeps you on your toes, changes tempos, and puts things on film you haven’t seen before.”
On threats presented by the Buckeyes’ wide receivers…
“They can catch the ball and turn it into a big play right away,” Lanning said. “They block really well on the perimeter and they have great catch radii. They’re able to win 50/50 balls at a really high rate.”
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He’s especially impressed with wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith, who lead the Ohio State offense in catches and yards.
“They have several great wideouts in their program,” he said. “That’s what makes this a challenge. You can’t just focus on one guy because there are always others who can beat you.”
Lanning spoke highly of Ohio State defense
“It starts with them limiting explosive plays,” he said of the Buckeyes defense. “They play really physically upfront and they pitch a lot of different looks at you. They play really sound football and they’re able to cover outside so they create a lot of challenges there.
“… They do a great job defensively of avoiding conflict. Those guys do a great job of farming their own land. There are times where there are guys getting involved in run support and others where they drop back to cover. They mix it up really well and know their assignments.”
Lastly, this game means a lot to Oregon football
“I certainly can’t speak to the entire history of the program,” he said. “This is an opportunity for two great teams to play each other and I think this will be awesome for our program and our fans.”
