Dan Lanning Reacts to Oregon's 41-21 Rose Bowl Loss to Ohio State
Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters in Pasadena Wednesday night following a 41-21 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.
The loss marked the end of Oregon’s 2024 season, as the Ducks finished with a 13-1 record and won the Big Ten.
Below is a complete transcription of Lanning’s postgame press conference.
Opening statement:
Lanning: “Before we get into the game, first off, just want to recognize the people in New Orleans, how we’re thinking of them, praying for them. There’s no place for that in the world for that. And the loss of life is always something that you don’t want to take for granted. And so I’m hoping for some solutions there.
“But getting to the game, they clicked tonight and we didn’t. And I didn’t get our team prepared. And that’s a great team. When you play a great team like Ohio State, you can’t not be clicking on all cylinders. And they were. They were clicking on all cylinders. We really didn’t have the ability to stop them, and we didn’t have the ability to get something going for us on offense.
“And we haven’t faced a lot of moments like this all year. It’s an unbelievable team. Coach Day and his staff have done an unbelievable job there. I don’t want to discredit what our players have been able to accomplish this year. We had a great team. We just ran into a great team tonight and we didn’t play our best.Credit to those guys. I’ll say this about our team: There wasn’t a second we stepped on the field where I felt our guys were disheartened, where they didn’t want to give the effort to go out there and play. I just don’t think we had a good enough plan as coaches tonight, and we have to find ways to prepare ourselves for.”
On Oregon’s long layoff between games
Lanning: ” I think that’s an excuse. I thought our guys prepared well going in. Obviously they had a better plan than us. But that’s an excuse. That’s an opportunity that we had to recharge. I thought our guys did practice well. I’d tell you if that wasn’t the case. I thought they had a great focus. I just don’t think our plan was good enough. I think they had a great plan to attack us. So credit to those guys.”
On what he can learn from this game and what needs to change
Lanning: “We’ve got to be able to adjust a little bit faster. There were some things we were able to get going at points throughout the game. We didn’t adjust fast enough. And it’s tough when you play a team that doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. They’ve got strengths. Their wideouts were creating a lot of success down the field. And then their ability to run the ball makes them a dangerous team. They didn’t make mistakes on special teams. You need some of those things to bounce your way.
“And offensively we struggled to get a first down early on and I thought Dillon did an unbelievable job there at the end of the half creating a spark for our team, but a lot of those weren’t natural plays. It wasn’t like the first read was there. It was this guy busting his tail, and guys like Traeshon and the O line fighting like crazy to extend plays and create those moments. We just didn’t have enough of those moments tonight.”
On how Ohio State was able execute differently offensively compared to the first game
Lanning: “I think they were able to find some shot opportunities. Caught us in a couple of coverages that gave them the chance to have success. And you could decide, okay, we’re going to try to pressure, and that’s still going to leave some one-on-ones. But they got us in some situational checks, some stuff that was successful. And they have great players. They have some guys out there that made plays. And you have to give those guys credit.”
On what the Ducks continuing to fight says about the team
Lanning: ” Just that. If you give them a great plan, they’re going to have the chance to go out and execute at a high level. They’ve got a lot of fight. Like I said, I thought our guys fought all night. There’s probably even more opportunities where I could have given them a chance to fight, and I didn’t do a great job of that. But those guys went out and battled every second tonight.”
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On what makes Jeremiah Smith tough to stop
Lanning: ” He’s strong, attacks the ball in the air as well as any receiver I’ve seen. The guy is NFL-ready. He’s that talented and that special. And Will Howard did a great job getting him the ball. And he’s tough and he’s physical. He’s got all the tools. A really talented player.”
On how he can use this game as motivation while knowing the team went 13-0
Lanning: ” Probably not there yet. There’s disappointment. But I talked to the team about life in that locker room and how grateful I am for the opportunity to coach this team. I love these guys. And they put it all out on the field for us — blood, sweat and tears. Adversity happens in life. And we’re going to get an opportunity in life to continue to attack and move forward.
“And I know there’s a lot of winners in that room, and there’s guys that are going to have a chance to go on in life and be great fathers and husbands. I hope they saw those examples on our team. They’re going to be great business leaders and NFL players. And they gave their heart and soul to us. To me it’s not about getting knocked down. It’s about getting back up and what you do next.”
On Evan Stewart’s status, what the Ducks miss without him
Lanning: ” He’s a dynamic player. He’s been great for us all year. Kind of got tweaked in pregame, and had been able to practice but was somewhat limited. We thought he was going to be a potential go. Leaned on the side of protecting the player. I think in that situation, you asked Evan, he wanted to be out on the field. But you don’t want to put him in a situation that’s not safe for him. He’s certainly been a dynamic piece for us all year, and would have loved to have him out there for us. But grateful for what he’s been able to do for us this season.”
On why he thinks Ohio State struggled against Michigan, adjustments they’ve made
Lanning: ” Sometimes it’s not your day. I think that was us today. It wasn’t our day today. It wasn’t their day against Michigan. But what’s unique about college football right now in this dynamic is that you’ve got to be playing your best ball at the end. I think anybody watching Ohio State recognizes they’re playing really good football.”
On Oregon’s path in the playoff compared to other teams
Lanning: “We had an opportunity. We didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. I’m not going to make excuses for our opportunity. And ultimately you have to be great teams to beat teams at the end of the year we didn’t do that. This is the road we had to travel. And they did it better than us tonight. No complaints for us for having that opportunity. They just took advantage of it and we didn’t.”