Oregon football coach Dan Lanning says Ducks' loss to Washington Huskies 'is 100% on me'

SEATTLE — Saturday’s top-10 showdown between No. 8 Oregon and No. 7 Washington and their Heisman Trophy contending quarterbacks lived up to all the hype.

But even instant classics come with critics, and Dan Lanning’s decision to keep his offense on the field three different — and significant — times throughout the game had the Ducks’ coach on the hot seat following the Ducks’ 36-33 loss at Husky Stadium Saturday afternoon.

“I think that this game is 100% on me, and I hope you guys are looking nowhere else besides me,” Lanning said.

Oregon was 0-for-3 on fourth down, including twice failing to convert inside Washington’s 10-yard line as Lanning eschewed going for chip-shot field-goal attempts.

The final fourth-down attempt came in the game’s final minutes near midfield when a first down on 4th-and-3 from the Washington 47 would’ve secured the Ducks’ win and a punt would have potentially given the Huskies a longer field to try to score while trailing by four points.

Instead, Nix threw incomplete to wide receiver Tez Johnson and Washington took over with 2:11 to play, trailing 33-29 and drove 53 yards on two plays to score the game-winning touchdown.

“We felt like our defense was playing well and then felt like we had an offensive play that was going to be successful,” Lanning said. “They covered it well, but at that point, they’d proven to be an explosive offense regardless of where they get the ball.”

Lanning wasn’t convinced punting from midfield and possibly giving the Huskies the ball at the 25 yard line was that much different than giving them the ball near midfield. Washington scoring in two plays and 33 seconds seemed to validate his point.

“I think we can all look back now and say you should have punted,” Lanning said. “But if you get the fourth down, the game's over. We capitalize, we finish the game.”

At the end of the first half, the Ducks had 4th-and-goal from the Washington 3 with 5 second to play until halftime. Despite trailing 22-18, Lanning kept quarterback Bo Nix and the offense on the field for a failed pass attempt instead of sending in kicker Camden Lewis to try for a 20-yard field goal.

“We felt that was an opportunity for us to get a touchdown and a touchdown changes the game,” Lanning said. “Obviously, we're probably not talking about if we get a touchdown. That being said, you know, the one before the half is one where you go back and say, ‘let's take the field goal.’”

On the other failed fourth-down attempt, Nix threw incomplete to Troy Franklin on 4th-and-3 from the Husky 8 with the Ducks trailing 29-18 with 3:35 to play in the third quarter.

That proved to be less egregious as the Oregon defense held Washington to 5 yards and a punt and the Ducks followed with a two-play touchdown drive that began at the 50.

“It’s part of coaching, it’s part of football,” Nix said of the fourth down decisions. “You can’t expect everything to go your way. That’s part of the game.”

A part that Lanning said will get further review.

“I think I'll always go back and evaluate myself and say, OK, what can I do different?” he said. “That being said, from a probability standpoint, and how we felt about looks that we were getting, we felt like we had a chance to have success (on the fourth-down calls). … I’ll certainly go back and evaluate myself. It’s about adapting. The game’s about adapting and figuring out ways to be better. You take one of those field goals early on, we are looking at probably a little bit different situation.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Dan Lanning takes blame for Oregon Ducks' loss to Washington