Dan Lanning on making Pac-12 Championship: 'I expected us to be here'

It wasn’t a certainty that Oregon would be in the Pac-12 Championship in Las Vegas this weekend, especially after the Ducks took an October loss. But head coach Dan Lanning never doubted this was the end point for his team after the regular season.

Speaking with reporters days prior to a rematch with Washington, the lone team to have bested the Ducks this year, Lanning shared that he always expected his team to be playing for the league title. And that was never in doubt for him.

“It’s hard to celebrate in this profession when you’re always focused on what’s next. I expected us to be here, right? I don’t know, really, what everyone else thought but I expected us to be in this position because I know what our team is capable of,” Lanning said.

And with a team that is playing as well as any in the country and is potentially on par with the very best, Lanning has his sights set on more than just an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

With a win, Oregon would be a prime candidate to make the College Football Playoff as a 12-1 conference champion. While he didn’t mention it, a berth in the four-team field is certainly something Lanning knows is potentially at stake.

Plus, the chance to hoist a trophy on Friday night in Las Vegas for winning the Pac-12, with a dose of revenge mixed in, is a pretty nice opportunity.

“And we still have some unfinished business. We wanna go out there and compete and put our best foot forward. Excited about what’s next but we’re going there for the opportunity to play in a big time game and perform our best,” Lanning said.

The Ducks will have a share of challenges vs. Washington

After Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix, an argument can be made that Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze is the next big impact player on the list of many in this game.

Odunze established himself as one of the best wideouts in the nation this season and a player that Lanning knows the Ducks will have to slow down if they want to have success on Friday night.

“If you double him then you’re going to be short in the run game. If you don’t double him he has a one-on-one, he has an opportunity to win,” Lanning said. “He attacks the ball in the air extremely well, he’s got great speed, he kind of runs every route in the route tree, and he has a quarterback that can get it to him. So really presents some great challenges.”

Three finalists were selected for the Biletnikoff Award this season and Odunze was one of them, awarded annually to the best wide receiver across all of college football. This season he’s hauled in 73 receptions for 1,326 yards and 13 touchdowns, ranking top five in the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns this season while also finding the end zone on a rushing score and on a punt return for a touchdown.

He’s been a major key to Washington’s offensive success this season as the Huskies’ leading wide receiver. But Washington’s No. 2 ranked passing attack has been complimented with a solid run game lately that makes Odunze even harder for defenses to defend.

“One thing I think they’ve done a really good job of is building their run game, since we’ve played them I think that’s something that’s really stepped up and improved,” Lanning explained. “And that only makes him even more of a dangerous target.”