Dan Lanning analyzes Oregon State's defense

The Oregon Ducks are getting a look at perhaps the best defense in the Pac-12 this weekend against rival Oregon State to finish off the regular season. The Beavers are 28th in the country over the course of the season in points allowed per game, and they’ve only tightened that number up as of late. So a dynamic Ducks offense will be put to its toughest test since the opener on Saturday.

But Bo Nix is also playing some of his best football late in this season, and the Oregon rushing attack is out-gaining opponents by over 100 yards per game. An elite offense meets an elite defense. One reporter asked Oregon head coach Dan Lanning at this week’s press conference how he plans to “attack” the immovable object that is the Beaver defense. To which Lanning joked he won’t reveal the specifics of his war plan.

“Yeah we’re not going to tell you how we’re going to attack them,” he told the reporter, and then complimented the unit as a whole. “But they’re a really good defense. They played better and better the last five weeks. I think they’re averaging 12 points per game the last five weeks. They paint, you know, a lot of different pictures for the quarterback. They do a good job with the disguises.” 

As a defensive guy himself, Lanning knows a well-prepared and talented group on that end when he sees one. The Oregon State defense most certainly applies.

Lanning on Oregon State QB Ben Gulbranson

Dan Lanning also has a lot of respect for what the Beavers do on the offensive side, all led by their quarterback, Ben Gulbranson.

“You see a lot of visible checks where he’s able to get them in the right play. You know, checking runs away from rotation, doing a lot of different things from a systematic standpoint to put them into good plays,” Lanning said of the third-year freshman QB. “Obviously, he’s understanding their system and it’s a tough system. They do a lot of different stuff. So, being able to operate that the way he operates is impressive.”

Gulbranson’s numbers never pop off the page. He really hasn’t thrown or ran for a whole bunch of yards and hasn’t even been the consistent down-to-down QB for Oregon State as they like to alternate between two guys. But he does see the slight majority of the snaps.

One thing is clear: OSU head coach Jonathan Smith likes to keep his opponents guessing on both sides of the ball.