Dan Lanning talks Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley, and USC’s potent offense
It’s weeks like these where it’s pretty easy to be a sports journalist; the storylines pretty much write themselves.
Over the past couple of decades, both the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans have been two of the biggest brands when it comes to college football on the West Coast. While they’ve rarely squared off in high-leverage moments on the field over the past few years — this will be the first meeting between Ducks and Trojans since 2020 — the battle is endless regarding the recruiting world and the fight for attention between Oregon and USC.
While it is no longer a matchup between a pair of top-25 teams, this is still one of the most hyped games of the season, getting to watch Caleb Williams and Bo Nix square off under the lights in Autzen Stadium.
On Monday night, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with media members to discuss Williams, Lincoln Riley, and the entire USC team that will be coming to Eugene in a matter of days. Here are some of the most notable things that he had to say:
Opening Statement
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Lanning: “How about them Ducks? Got a dub today. Dante, what 21 rebounds? That’s pretty big. And I think women are up right now. So if that doesn’t fire you up, I don’t know what does. But obviously a great weekend for our guys. I certainly walked away feeling like we could play a lot better but I was really pleased with our team’s response throughout the game. A lot of young guys stepping up and making a big impact was great. Great for us to see and a lot to build off of. We had great prep day today. Guys really went in there and attacked what they got to get better at. And obviously playing a special opponent with a lot of talent on that side of the ball, a team that’s got talent in every phase, and so we have to be ready to attack them and play them well. They obviously do a great job of scoring points. So that’s something we have to be prepared for.”
Doctor's Appointment
Question: What was the mentality from your guys like on Sunday and Monday, metaphorically “going to the doctor” and finding out where you can get better?
Lanning: “These guys come to work, man. They’re wired the right way. It’s always about hearing the message, not the tone. I thought our guys did a phenomenal job of identifying exactly what they want to do to get a little bit better. Right now, this part of the season, it’s about finding something you need a little bit better at and growing that 1 percent.”
USC Offensive Comparison
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Question: What makes USC’s offense so special and do they share any similarities with teams you’ve played so far this year?
Lanning: “I don’t think we’ve seen an offense quite like this offense. It’s really unique. Obviously, the closest would be Washington in some ways with the explosive passes and a quarterback who can make every single throw. They’ve got great weapons. They’re strong in the offensive front with their O-line. They’ve got a really good running game — Marshawn (Lloyd) is running the ball really really well. Seems like they get into positive plays really easily and the shot game is always there. I mean, (Caleb Williams) extends plays and holds on to the ball longer than anybody in college football and he can make every throw. So, that’s dangerous if you’re not able to get him down on the ground and not able to cover for a long time. So, they present a lot of challenges. I mean, they use the tight end in the passing game. They run the ball well and they’re a scheme team. They do what they do really well, but they’re gonna bring new wrinkles into each game that you have to be prepared for. They’re one of the harder opponents to prepare for.”
Cinematic Recaps
Question: The cinematic recaps have been a big success for the team, but how do you balance wanting to give fans an inside look at the program and not showing too many of your cards?
Lanning: “I get to see them before they get released and, every once in a while we’ll make some edits. But I think it’s good for everyone to be able to see the work that our players put in and the preparation that goes into success. I think it provides a great glimpse of all the work that does go into your 60 minute game. There’s so much more than just obviously those 60 minutes. So our video staff has done an unbelievable job capturing some great content. Really, the other piece that’s fun for me with those is it gets to highlight the great people in our program. Not me, the players, the coaches, the video staff. Just everybody who touches our program makes such a great impact. I think it tells a great story about our team and each week and how each week is unique and different.”
Limiting USC's Offense
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Question: When USC does so many things well offensively, how do you go about trying to pick and choose which ones you want to limit the most?
Lanning: “You try to take them all away. No, it’s hard. You talk about trying to make a team play left-handed. This is a hard team to make play left-handed because they do so many things really, really well. I think you have to be sound when you play these guys and their quarterback has kind of seen it all and has a lot of experience. So it’s hard to pitch something to him that he hasn’t really probably prepared for already. So, it’s about being sound, being smart being patient, and when you get the opportunity to change up a look or provide and create pressure, you want to be able to do that. But it can’t be a feast or famine mentality. You can’t expect this guy not to have some success in this in this game. He’s going to have some success. It’s really about how we respond to that success and it’s about the combination of plays over time.”
Caleb Williams
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Question: How do you go about game-planning for someone as good as Caleb Williams?
Lanning: “Fortunately for us, we’ve played a lot of good quarterbacks this year. But Caleb is certainly a hard one to prepare for — one, because of his ability as an athlete. He can run he’s got great speed. He’s really strong in the lower body, he’s a hard guy to get to the ground. But again, the prep is every day. It’s the drill work we do — you have to do some particular drills throughout the week to really prep you for the difference in play for him and how he plays. Like I said, holding the ball for long periods of time, and being able to keep his eyes downfield to create explosive plays, that’s one of the things that probably makes him most unique. Then the fact that you really can’t outrun his arm. It doesn’t matter how far the receivers are down the field, he’s always got the ability to throw it and does a great job of that. So he’s a tough one to prepare for.”
Recruiting Opportunity
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Question: How big of a recruiting opportunity does this weekend present for your program?
Lanning: “Yeah, it’s gonna be huge. It’s huge for the atmosphere that our fans create. It’s huge for how our team performs. Recruiting in these scenarios, you don’t get to spend as much time with the recruits as you want because you’re spending a lot of time preparing your team. But that will be a big, big piece of this weekend.”
No More Alex Grinch
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Question: USC just made a major coaching move on defense. How does that change your preparation this week, if at all?
Lanning: “I mean, there’s a lot of thoughts that kind of go into that. But Coach Odom has actually called it before — last time Oregon played against Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. So I think there’ll be a lot of similarities to some of the stuff that they already do. I think that that group will probably have some new wrinkles that we potentially haven’t seen. But it all comes back to what football is all about: Tackling, blocking, breaking tackles, making catches. So all those things are going to hold true. And we have to play to our identity. Hopefully when people watch this team — on both sides of the ball — you see an identity. Our identity has to hold true regardless of what scheme we see against us.”
UO Coaches Club
Question: What’s your relationship like with other Oregon coaches here on campus?
Lanning: “I take a ton of lessons from all of them. Somebody actually asked me last week what makes Oregon so special and it’s funny — the day before I just got off the phone with Coach Altman. He was just calling to say, ‘Hey, congrats so far on the season. We want you to know we’re cheering for you.’ I think that is so unique here. Coach Waz (Wasikowski) sent me a text earlier today and he’s down in the weight room getting his workout and he’s asking me where I’m at and told him I’m working. There are so many coaches at this university and it make this place so special. I think that speaks to the job that Rob Mullens has done as far as creating a culture in our athletic department where all of us want to spend time with each other. I got to see, Casey, we went to our walkthrough because of the rain over at Matthew Knight Arena. And the fact that we get to use that facility, even though we’re not on the basketball team, I think that speaks to the collaboration that exists in our program and our university. But I have a great relationship with several coaches. I get excited when I get to spend time around the coaches in our program, whether it’s helping Missy out recruiting in softball. I want to do anything I can to help the program and they do the exact same thing for us. I love it when I see coaches for other sports at our practices, bouncing ideas off of each other, ways that we can motivate our players and maximize their ability on the field. But that’s something that, to me, is very unique to Oregon I haven’t experienced that really anywhere else that I’ve coached. And it’s a really special situation here with the coaches that we have here.”
Jestin Jacobs
Question: With 3 games now for Jestin Jacobs, what have you made of his progress so far on the defense?
Lanning: “Yeah, I’m really proud of Jestin and the way that he’s approached everything this season and he’s certainly made a great impact for us. He’s proven to be a solid tackler. He’s tough to block. I think his size and his athleticism make him a really special talent on the field and I’m excited to see him continue to grow.”
Night Games
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Question: Some coaches have been open about their disdain for 7:30 p.m. kick-off times this year. What is your opinion on the matter?
Lanning: “I mean, I don’t pick it. So let’s play. I mean, we’ve gotten to play a lot of early games. I’m expecting an elite atmosphere from our fans. They gotta maybe start a little bit later in the day and not get too excited before the game starts. But night games are fun. I always liked Friday night lights in high school, so I’m all for it.”
USC WR's
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Question: What makes USC’s group of wide receivers unique?
Lanning: “I think they’re probably different than anyone we’ve played so far this year because of the amount of players that they play at the position. They have a lot of quality players that can play at a lot of different positions and they utilize their personnel well. But there are a lot of receivers that get a lot of snaps and they have tremendous speed in the slot. It’s also unique how they move their wideouts around; you’ll see them line up in the backfield, lineup in the C-area. Branch is an elite returner and that shows up. But they’ve got a lot of talent really across the board when it comes to wideout.”
USC vs. Oregon Rivalry
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Question: You obviously haven’t played USC before since coming to Oregon, but what have you learned about this rivalry over the years?
Lanning: “Yeah, I think every game around here matters. Right? And I think certainly this one, especially the amount of time we spend recruiting in California, the battles that exist just in every sport between our universities, this is one that obviously means a lot to a lot of people but I can promise you nobody wants to win this game more than myself and our players. They’re working really hard for a great result on Saturday. And obviously, it’s a really good team that we have to go play.”
Lincoln Riley
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Question: What’s your relationship like with Lincoln Riley, have you spent much time around him?
Lanning: “Actually, you know, when I was at Georgia, I was actually recruiting Caleb (Williams) We were both at the field at Gonzaga in DC, so I got to be around him a little bit there. I’ve never spent a ton of time with Lincoln. I’ve seen him obviously at Pac-12 meetings and things like that. He’s a guy I have a ton of respect for. Obviously he’s had an elite offense for a really long time. My very first glacier clinic as a high school coach, he was the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech and I was coaching wideouts at Parkhill South and I went and listened to him. He certainly doesn’t remember me. I’ve never really told anybody that story. But I took some good notes, so hopefully they pay off on Saturday. We’ll see.”
Bear Alexander
Question: You’re obviously familiar with Bear Alexander, what type of challenges does he present?
Lanning: “Bear’s a dominant player. He has elite get off. He has great strength. He’s very disruptive. I think you want to know the impact of his play, look at the first half of the Cal game where he didn’t get to play and then watch him come in the next few series. When he does come in and the impact that he makes, he’s a guy that you have to know where he’s at at all times. You know, but I think our front loves that challenge of having the opportunity to go against a really quality player and quality opponent.”
Kicking to Zachariah Branch
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Question: What is the philosophy on kick-off when they’ve got a guy like Zachariah Branch back there who is among the best in the nation? Do you kick away from him?
Lanning: “I think that a common thought always with a guy like Zachariah is don’t kick the ball to him at all. And there’s some truth and benefit to that. But then there’s also something to be said for your coverage units. It’s not as easy as people think to say, ‘Okay, I’m gonna kick it here. Or I’m gonna kick it out of bounds; kick it to another side of the field.’ Because sometimes you create more field space for a dynamic returner like Branch, you know, so I think we just have to have a great plan. We have to have elite coverage. It has been really good. There’s no secret about it; he’s probably the best right now in the nation, and I don’t know if there’s anybody that’s really close second. So he’s one that we have to be aware of and make sure we have great coverage plans for and do a good job of kicking, and hopefully we avoid the opportunity to punt so we don’t have to see him in action.”
