Dan Lanning says Oregon players 'still have a bad tase in their mouth' over 2021 Stanford loss

Oregon started out the season hot in 2021. The Ducks went on the road and blasted the Ohio State defense en route to a statement road victory over the Buckeyes, which vaulted them to the No. 3 ranking in the country. However, just a couple weeks later, Oregon went on the road and lost in overtime to Stanford after leading by a touchdown with less than two minutes to play and the ball at the end of regulation.

So it’s fair to say many of last year’s Ducks still have a sour taste in their mouths over that gut-wrenching loss. Especially considering the College Football Playoff possibilities that were ultimately crushed by such a loss.

Now hosting the Cardinal in Eugene this time around, the players that stuck around for head coach Dan Lanning’s first season have revenge on their minds. At his press conference this week previewing the matchup, Lanning expressed that he can feel that chip on some of his guys’ shoulders even though he himself wasn’t a part of the game last fall.

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“This team shortened our season last year, or at least, some of the guys in our room, they still have a bad taste in their mouth, you know, from playing these guys before. So that’s not far from their minds. And playing to our best, that’s really what we focus on.”

While revenge is an added bonus, Dan Lanning is focused on continuing to showcase that this year’s Oregon team isn’t as one-dimensional as those of the past. These Ducks can win in multiple ways, and that’s what Lanning would like to continue to show on Saturday.

“You know, we spent time this morning talking about, really, the variety of ways that we’ve won this season and the variety of teams that we’ve played. I think you just kind of can continue on…where do we need to grow, you know? Where do we need to build for us to be a complete team, you know? We’ve proven we can win in some different settings and some different ways. But this is a team that we have to bring our best for and it’s really just like I’ve said every week. It’s about Oregon and our improvement. And we have a lot of respect for this team, you know.”

It’ll be No. 13 Oregon hosting 1-2 Stanford late Saturday night at 11:00 p.m. for the east coasters and 8:00 p.m. local time.