Oregon football coach Dan Lanning on criticism: 'I'm going to be aggressive to win games'

The hours after Oregon’s near takedown of No. 5 Washington in Seattle last weekend weren’t the easiest for Dan Lanning.

“I guess you're assuming I went to bed,” the coach deadpanned when asked what his first thoughts were when he woke up Sunday morning.

It was that kind of afternoon for Lanning and the Ducks, who lost 36-33 to the Huskies Saturday.

Oregon surrendered a four-point lead with 1:38 to play and missed the game-tying field goal as time expired and the No. 9 Ducks (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) lost for the first time this season and for the second straight season in dramatic fashion to Washington.

The second-year coach was reflective Monday night when he spoke at his weekly press conference in advance of the Ducks’ nationally televised game on ABC against Washington State (4-2, 1-2) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Autzen Stadium.

Lanning discusses criticism over Oregon's failed fourth-down attempts

“I came anxious to get to work and say, 'OK, what can I go fix and where can we get better?” Lanning said. “We played a tough game against a team that went down to the wire, and you evaluate and assess every single situation that shows up in that game, and then you say, ‘OK, now how can I build off this and learn off of it?' That's always gonna be my mindset, what can I learn? And where can we improve as a team?”

Lanning received criticism after the loss to Washington for his decisions to go for it three times on fourth down — twice inside the Huskies 10-yard line when his team trailed and needed points, and once toward the end of the game when the Ducks led and had the ball at midfield.

They failed to get a first down on all three attempts.

“Here's the hard part, when you sit in this seat and make decisions, one, I'm a big boy, I can handle criticism,” Lanning said. “That's going to come and it's deserved in this position. That's the way it works. I trust our players, I trust our coaches, and when we have opportunities to win games, I'm going to be aggressive to win games.”

Analytics, instinct informed Ducks' fourth-down decisions vs. Washington

That was case on the final fourth-down attempt.

Oregon was up 33-29 with 2:16 to play and had fourth-and-3 at the Washington 47. The Huskies were out of timeouts so a first down would’ve locked up the victory, but quarterback Bo Nix’s pass to wide receiver Tez Johnson was incomplete and Washington followed with a two-play drive for the game-winning touchdown.

“I don't think there's any scenario where I wouldn't go for it on fourth down there when you have an opportunity to put the game away,” Lanning said.

He was less certain about his decision to not kick a field goal when the Ducks had fourth-and-goal from the Washington 3 at the end of the first half and trailing 22-18. A pass from Nix to running back Bucky Irving in the end zone was incomplete.

“The field goal before half, that certainly could have gone either way,” Lanning said. “Like I said on Saturday, we felt that we had the look. If we didn't have the look that we wanted, we were going to call a timeout and kick the field goal. Could easily turn around and say kick the field goal there and feel good about it.”

Lanning said his decision to go for it on fourth downs comes from a combination of analytics and gut instinct. Before Saturday, the Ducks were successful on fourth down 80% of the time (8-for-10) this season.

“Three opportunities on fourth, the chances of not getting one of those three is really unique,” Lanning said. “You know, especially with what we've done offensively so far this year.”

Oregon’s offense was otherwise sharp in the game, gaining more yards (541-415) and more first downs (32-24) than Washington, and until the game-winning TD with 1:38 to play, the defense had held the Huskies’ potent offense to one second-half score.

Lanning proud of how Oregon players handled hostile Husky Stadium

Lanning also raved about the atmosphere at Husky Stadium and how his players handled competing in such a challenging environment.

“I thought our guys showed great composure,” he said. “I thought our guys handled walking into the storm, the best environment I've probably experienced here since I've been in Oregon on the road. I mean, it was really loud. It was great.”

Despite the disappointing result, Lanning said the team had a “phenomenal” practice Monday as they attempt to put the loss behind them.

“Our players wear a GPS unit that tells how fast our guys run during practices,” Lanning said. “Our guys were going to 5% faster than ever on any Monday this year, which when it comes to speeds, that's pretty impressive. You know, these guys came to work. They wanted to wear shoulder pads today. These guys wanted to go, so I think it tells you about our team's mindset.”

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 reflects Oregon Ducks' loss to Washington Huskies