What did Oregon coach Dan Lanning say about Penn State Sunday before the Big Ten title game?

No. 4 Penn State and No. 1 Oregon meet Saturday in the 2024 Big Ten title game. On Sunday, Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and Lions coach James Franklin were on the line with reporters as each team moved into the first day of game week. Lanning, who is 33-5 amid his third season in Eugene, went first. And, he had plenty to say about his team’s opponent this week during his 30-minute chat with reporters. Here’s everything he said about Penn State below.

“It’s a quick turnaround for us playing last night, but certainly excited about the opportunity to go compete against a great team in Penn State,” Lanning said in his opening statement. “I know our players were really excited about it. This has been a fun season for us. But, there’s some real challenges that [Penn State] presents now. I think we talk about trying to play your best ball at the end of season. And, that’s the position that we’re in right now. But we’re going against the team that’s playing really good ball as well.

“So this will be a great game for college football and a great opportunity for us and our fans.”

What else did Dan Lanning say about Penn State?

On Tyler Warren and trying to stop him

“Haven’t been able to watch a ton of film but I’ve seen a ton of film on him in crossover, and he’s obviously an elite player. It’s a matchup issue. He’s a complete tight end. season, he’s this season, he’s obviously an elite player. That’s a matchup issue. A complete tight end. So I’m excited to hop in and dive into that plan and try to figure out how we can neutralize them. I think they do as good a job of any of utilizing their personnel. I think their scheme is really difficult to plan for offensively, so that’ll be a fun challenge for us and our defensive staff.”

On Penn State edge Abdul Carter

“I think with anything, just watching their defense and their offense, you see guys that play really well together, right? Eleven guys playing kind of as one, and they have an aggressive nature. He’s certainly a guy that’s showing physicality and ability to play all over the field. So, somebody we have to be aware of, right? And I think they have a lot of players on that defense that you have to be aware of where they’re at and we’ll have to do a great job of identifying them.”

On Drew Allar

“I think composure is certainly one of the things that sticks out, and again, understanding of their offensive scheme. I think it’s about taking what’s there. But he’s also a guy that’s made some really tight throws and some great windows this year. I think he understands his personnel and his strengths, knows who he wants to get the ball to, but more than anything, just a composed operator that goes out there and can execute a really high level and create explosive.”

Is Penn State comparable to anyone Oregon has played?

“I think this team has its own unique identity. They do some different things that we haven’t seen. So far this season, there’s some stuff that’s carry over. But I wouldn’t compare them to anybody that we played so far. Obviously, they play a physical brand of football. I think Coach Franklin does an elite job in all three phases. They are very detailed. I think that shows up. Teams that play great special teams are usually really well-coached. I think these guys play great special teams as well. So I think you see it all show up, for these guys, but I wouldn’t compare them to a team that we’ve played so far this season.”

On Andy Kotelnicki

“I’ve actually followed Andy for a while. One of the things I do here every week is I watch explosive plays across college football. And you know last year what going through film, and previous years going through film, Andy’s film always showed it up. So as I watch explosive plays of other teams through college football, you’ve watched and see unique formations pop up. And you know, whether that was his time at Kansas or now his time at Penn State, you see some unique ways to use personality and create tough looks for defenses.

“So he’s a guy that is able to get the numbers right at the point of attack. He’s a guy that has a lot of smoke and mirrors that make it tough. Have to have great eye discipline. But explosive plays, I think, is one of the biggest things that stand out, as he consistently creates explosive plays in this offensive scheme. And, it requires guys to do a great job of taking care of their job, right? A lot of one-on-one tackles have to be made. But the way he utilizes personnel is something that stuck out to me for a long time.”

On what role Joe Lorig can have in this game with his Penn State background and playing indoor for the special teams

“The kicking distances will change a little bit. I think that’s something you have to assess somewhat pregame. But, generally, you can anticipate being able to hit longer field goals and get more touchbacks in the kicking game. That’s something that will definitely come into play a little, obviously you’re not dealing with winds. So that’ll be a piece that’s different. And then, obviously, Joe’s experience will be something we lean on. But it’s similar to the other people that we face this season that have coaching crossover. It’ll make an impact on the game. But Joe’s not playing in this game. I’m not playing in this game. It’s really going to be a lot more about our players.”

What did Dan Lanning learn about his team and watching Penn State face Ohio State?

“Well, looking at just that comparison, yeah, I think ultimately both teams show the ability to play winning football. And games like the game coming up this weekend, these are generally tight games. So, learning that our team can win in a tight situation certainly matters. And we’ve had some other tight situations this year. So, the resiliency of our team.

“But certainly, Penn State’s ability to match up and play really well against some of the best teams in the nation, that one of the benefits of playing in the Big Ten is to get to play against great opponents each week.”

On recruiting against Penn State

“I think they have a storied history. I think their coaching staff is similar to ours, where they’re relentless in their pursuit of great players. And I think every good coach would tell you that it takes great players to be a good coach. So they do a good job. They do a good job of identifying talent. They have strong roots, certainly in the northeast and the East Coast. But they’re a team like us that can recruit nationally. So you know, when they put a good product on the field, they’re going to go work to recruit some of the best players, and that means we’re going to get in battles at times because we’re going to do the same.”