'This game 100% falls on me;' Dan Lanning reacts to upset loss to Washington

There are often trials and tribulations that take place in the first year for a head coach, especially at the D-1.

Dan Lanning had seen some pretty smooth sailing in Eugene. Of course, there was the week 1 loss to Georgia, but since then, Oregon had bounced back well and proved to be among the best teams in the nation.

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Bumps came on Saturday night against Washington, though, and the Ducks were unable to recover some self-inflicted wounds and wound up getting upset, 37-34 to the rival Huskies.

It was a tough loss that knocked Oregon out of the College Football Playoff picture and opened up the race for the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Afterward, Lanning wore the loss on the chin and took full accountability. Here’s what he said following the brutal defeat.

Opening Statement

Lanning: “Well, certainly not the result we had hoped for. I think our guys played the entire game. They certainly didn’t quit, they didn’t throw in the towel. I think you have to give Washington credit, they played a complete game and we made more mistakes during the game that hurt us. This game 100% falls on me, right? Our players gave phenomenal effort. They tried really hard. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times in the first half, but we were able to move the ball much better in the second half. You know, that being said we weren’t able to get a stop defensively so things that we have to attack moving forward.”

Coaching Mentors

Question: What would Kirby (Smart) or Nick (Saban) say about a game where the defense gave up over 400 yards of offense with TDs of 62 and 76 yards?

Lanning: “They would watch the film. They’d try to figure out why and then they establish a plan of attack to move forward.”

Message Going Forward

Question: What is the message going forward for this team, since you still have a lot of goals left in front of you?

Lanning: “The message was I love this team. You know, we didn’t finish his game the way we want. But we’ve been a connected team all year, that doesn’t change because of this result. Right? And my love is not based on the result of this game. Right? And um, you know, I love that locker room. I’m proud of that locker room. We didn’t play the way we wanted to play. And that really falls on me.”

Illegal Touching

Question: How was that illegal touching penalty at the end of the game described to you from the ref?

Lanning: “I was told the guy went out of bounds and I’m anxious to hear more of an explanation but just that he went went out of bounds, came back and touched the ball first.”

Second Thoughts

Question: Do you have any second thoughts or regrets on the decisions to go for it on 4th down or the onside kick?

Lanning: “I mean, you know, we’ve sat in this room and talked about it when they worked out and now we’re sitting in this room and talking about when they didn’t, right? The onside that’s, you know, that was my decision. And you know, the guy moved a little bit where it wasn’t there, when we thought it was there earlier in prep. You know, fourth down you fall and slip and it’s gonna be hard to convert in that situation. But we knew that we were going to that situation, you look back and you could say in retrospect, we should punt there,  have a chance. But you also feel like hey, you get that first and got a chance to go win the game.”

4th Down Decision

Question: Can you walk me through that 4th down decision where you didn’t get it? What did you see, what were you going for?

Lanning: “Obviously we were able to run the ball there in the second half. I don’t know that they stopped this much there. That’s probably the only negative play the entire second half. We won the run game. Right. So we felt like we’re going to fall forward. We’ve been a team that can get a yard or two yards, you know, consistently this year and we didn’t didn’t get it done there.”

Decisions With Bo

Question: If Bo Nix didn’t get hurt, would that change your decision to kick the field goal or go for it and put the game away potentially?

Lanning:  “To be determined. We had a play ready that we felt like we liked and certainly felt like we could potentially go win the game but when that situation changed then that probably changed your approach.”

3rd Down Defense

Question: What is it about 3rd down defense that has given you guys trouble, when guys are succeeding on other downs?

Lanning: “You know we missed some layups earlier. I think we had a free runner on the very first third down, you know, he scrambled, you got to make that play when you have the opportunity. You know, there was a bang bang play there at the end on the long touchdown. We had a guy who looks like he was right there. Didn’t make a play on the ball, need to be getting better at playing the ball in that situation. You know that? I don’t know if it’s one thing here or there. It’s just a you know a magnitude of moments that we gotta go to evaluate.”

Bo Nix Health

Question: How is Bo, and what was his status there at the end of the game?

Lanning: “Yeah, we’re gonna always think about our players health first. You know, at that moment, we felt like Bo wasn’t able to go, we have to get him evaluated and see where things are actually really at with him. And he came back and said, ‘Hey, Coach, I feel like I can go’ and I said ‘you sure?’ And the medical staff said he was good. So we went back with him.

Next 24-48 Hours

Question: How important are the next 24-48 hours for this team?

Lanning: “You know, we’ve got to tight locker room. I think our players recognize that and realize that and this won’t change their approach.”

Interception Review

Question: Did you consider calling a timeout in the first half to allow the refs to review the play where it looks like Christian Gonzalez came down with the interception?

Lanning: “There’s a thought you know, but at the end of the day, tie is gonna go to offense, right, when both teams show possession of the ball. So we felt pretty confident it probably end up being the same result.

19-Play Drive

Question: That 19-play drive there in the 4th, what allowed that and did you feel like you were putting the game away at the time?

Lanning: “We were in good sequence. We were in good rhythm going. You know that’s going to happen at times but that’s no excuse you know, our guys had, you know, confidence going into that drive and obviously did a great job within that series. But if you go back and look at this game, we’re gonna see you know, a multitude of times that we really just stopped ourselves and weren’t necessarily stopped.”

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