Dan Lanning jokes that he decided to punt vs. Oklahoma State to avoid losing punters to transfer portal

Leading into Saturday’s game between No. 4 Oregon and Oklahoma State, a lot was made of Mike Gundy‘s perceived slight when the longtime Cowboys head coach suggested the Ducks will have to shell out “a lot of money to keep” star QB Dante Moore after the upcoming season. Gundy has repeatedly clarified his comments were meant as a compliment, but it was clear the Ducks coaches and players took them personal based on their performance in Saturday’s 69-3 rout in Eugene.

For his part, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning took a bit of a playful tact to Gundy’s comments, including in his Monday press conference when explaining a pair of fourth quarter punts Saturday — the team’s first this season. Ducks senior punter James Ferguson-Reynolds unleashed a 36-yard punt to the Oklahoma State 5-yard line with 9:57 remaining in the game and then added a 37-yarder to end Oregon’s next offensive series with less than 4 minutes on the game clock.

“Yeah, I was worried if we didn’t punt, we’d probably lose the punter to the portal,” Lanning deadpanned Monday. “So I wanted to make sure we got an opportunity. No, he’s done a good job. And Ross (James) had an unbelievable Fall camp, like did a really good job, we had good competition. Ultimately, for both those guys. I think they made each other better, but (Ferguson-Reynolds) has done a good job. He’s earned that spot and I think he went and executed there to pin it inside the 10 and have good kicks to help us out.”

Mike Gundy: ‘Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team’

Earlier in the week, Gundy claimed that Oregon would have to pay “a lot of money” to keep quarterback Dante Moore on their roster beyond this season. He also took aim at the Ducks for the amount they spent on their roster and suggested they should schedule tougher opponents.

“I think Oregon spent close to $40 (million) last year alone,” Gundy said. “So, that was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million. … Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team. From a nonconference standpoint there’s coaches saying they should (play teams with similar budgets).”

Gundy made headlines leading up to the contest with his comments regarding the Ducks’ NIL budget and how that helped them to build their current roster. Speaking following the blowout victory, Lanning addressed how that served as extra motivation for his team while also calling out Gundy once more.

“I told our team right before the game that it never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass, but it never hurts when somebody pours gasoline on the fire,” Lanning said Saturday. “I felt like these guys wanted the chance to go prove who they are. I’ve got a lot of respect for coach Gundy, but at his press conference, he’s probably saying, ‘See, I told you so.’ That’s probably what his comment is.

“But that doesn’t change the way we have to play to be a winning football team. We have good players. One of our best, Bryce Boettcher, played good today. He came here for a backpack and a t-shirt. So I’m really proud of those guys on our team that have developed into great players.”

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.