Notable quotes from Dan Lanning after 55-10 win over Hawaii
There were many positives to take away from the 55-10 victory for the Oregon Ducks on Saturday night against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. There were some frustrations as well.
It was all front and center for head coach Dan Lanning after the game. He started the postgame press conference by talking about how the Ducks’ nine penalties made this victory a little bit less sweet than it could have been otherwise.
While the nonconference schedule is behind the Ducks, Lanning and his squad now look to an intriguing Week 4 matchup with the Colorado Buffaloes. Before we get to that, though, let’s take a look at what Lanning had to say after the win on Saturday:
Opening Statement
Lanning: “All right, appreciate everybody’s patience. Really fun atmosphere and I thought our team started really fast. Showed what we’re capable of, from an efficiency standpoint really on all phases of the game from special teams to offense and defense. I thought we played complete. I’m extremely disappointed with the penalties and how they hurt us there. It’s something we coach really hard, but we’re not coaching them well enough. So that’s the first thing we’re going to attack we have to figure out how to make sure we’re accountable as a program. Talking about going into half with a ton of momentum, and three penalties end up leading to a score at the end of the first half. That’s extremely frustrating, something we want to crack, you know, penalties again in that last series that led to another score. So if we haven’t figured out the formula, I’m disappointed in us. Now, I don’t want that to overshadow a lot of the positives that happened. I thought we moved the line of scrimmage. I thought we applied pressure. I thought our coaches had a really good plan. We’re certainly not satisfied. I was thrilled about the crowd and I thought they were electric showed up for a big game and I know they’re gonna be better next week so we can open it up.”
The Secondary
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Question: How do you think your secondary performed against their passing attack?
Lanning: “I thought we had bodies on bodies, you know, primarily for most of the night. Sometimes the best coverage at times can be a good rush. I thought we had a good rush throughout the night, you know, but again, we have to learn to be able to play with the ball in the air and not cause penalties because you look at third down penalty there that led to an opportunity for them to go down have an opportunity to score. A really solid performance at times, but we’re certainly looking for opportunities to get better.”
Penalties
Question: Do you do something differently this week to try and address the penalties?
Lanning: “I’m not going to do the same thing again and again and expect different results. So we’re gonna do something different, right? We’ll figure out if we can get it fixed, right? If we can’t, then they can’t be on the field. If you’re gonna get penalties, you can’t be on the field. And that’s gonna be that simple, right? If you get a penalty you can’t play for us. You’re hurting the team.”
Nitpicks
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Question: Are there other things about the game that you were unhappy about?
Lanning: “I’m gonna find something. Yeah, I’m gonna find something. I can’t tell you something right now, but I’ll find something. We’re not gonna be satisfied with that result. That being said, I did think that are we really close to playing a complete game. Like I thought in a lot of ways, we’re really close to playing a complete game, but that overshadowed it a little bit for me.”
Tez Johnson
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Question: What do you make of Tez Johnson’s performance tonight?
Lanning: “I think he’s had some really great performances that those performances show up more so in practice, I’m gonna challenge him to go catch the punt return right in the air so we can save some yardage. I’m gonna challenge him to hold on to the ball better and not put it in jeopardy. You know, sometimes, we didn’t turn over the ball tonight, right? But there’s a thing called ball in jeopardy plays and there were some ball in jeopardy plays where we gave an opportunity for the opponent to be able to go attack, and we’re going to do a better job of that, but I’m really pleased with Tez. I’m really pleased with all those wideouts. There’s some guys in there that are making us better. But I want to make sure that we continue to grow.”
Jordan Burch
Question: Before watching tape, how do you think Jordan Burch played tonight?
Lanning: “I gotta do exactly that, watch film. But I know that guy plays with violent physical effort. Like I know he’s capable of that. He can be a dominant player. And I think that showed up early in the game. You know, I thought we were assignment sound tonight. Sometimes in the past two weeks, I’m talking about the entire defense, the entire offense, but when we executed our jobs, we’re generally going to like the results and I thought everybody in the framework of defense executed their jobs and they made the plays when they came to them. When their opportunity came, they did a good job making the play. And Jordan did a great job on that rush tonight. I hope that’s first of many for him.”
Traeshon Holden
Question: Traeshon Holden had a big game tonight, what do you make of his performance?
Lanning: “I thought Traeshon had some great plays from him tonight and I’m really excited to see him go get that, but I wrote down like, man, we gotta go to the jugs tonight because I saw some drops out there too. Like, let’s figure out how we can catch them better so really pleased but you know in games that are going to be tighter down the wire like every opportunity matters. And how can we challenge ourselves to improve there but was really glad to see him in a big game, he started for us on kickoff as well. Like how many roles can guys serve for our team? We got a lot of numbers. I don’t know how many guys played tonight. I’ll know relatively soon. But we played a lot of people and for us to be the team we can be I want to continue to play a lot of people.”
Depth on Offense
Question: How important is it for the team to show off this type of depth?
Lanning: “Yeah, it’s really important right? Because you can’t play a whole season with the same guys. And then the reality is next year is gonna be a new team. But who are we developing on our roster to become elite players down the road? I see guys out there making plays for us now that didn’t have a huge role on our team last year, but they’re making plays for us now. We want to see that continue to grow and develop.”
Ty Thompson
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Question: How do you think Ty Thompson played tonight?
Lanning: “I thought he was extremely engaged throughout the game and ready as soon as his opportunity called and handled it really well. I know the rollout pass there, the naked that he had early. I think he probably wishes that went back and put in front of Casey a little bit. But overall, he’s done a good job of operating our system when he’s gotten in.”
Jahlil Florence
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Question: Where do you think Jahli Florence has improved the most since coming to Oregon?
Lanning: “Yeah, I think he’s always been capable. I think he’s focused. He’s gone to another level. I think there’s another level in there. I think there’s another step for that guy. But I think he’s got a great ability. I want to continue to challenge him to, you know, get better and continue to make plays and become elite in that area.”
Deion Sanders
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Question: How would you assess the job that Deion Sanders has done at Colorado so far this year?
Lanning: “Yeah, obviously I’m going to have to take a deeper dive in but you know, you have to be a fool to not recognize the results that they’ve created on a team that didn’t have a lot of success before. So he’s done a phenomenal job. He’s recruited a lot of players that I’m familiar with personally. They’re playing for him. He’s got a good roster, and they’re winning games and doesn’t always matter how, but they’re winning games. So obviously, he’s doing something right up there.”
National Attention
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Question: With the incoming opponent, there is going to be a ton of national attention on this upcoming game. How do you keep your team focused?
Lanning: “Play the game, not the occasion. Play the game, not the occasion. They have homecoming as well and you get the homecoming dance and you have the parade but guess what everybody cares about football game. That’s what we’re gonna do. Go play football. No offense to the parade.”
