Mark Ingram pushes back on Dan Lanning's criticism of SEC scheduling

Dan Lanning‘s Oregon team looks well on its way to clinching a second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff after downing No. 15 USC 42-27 on Saturday. The Ducks improved to 10-1 (7-1) after the win and will finish their regular season this Saturday against Washington.

Because they have the one conference loss, they will likely miss the Big Ten Championship Game. This would keep them at one loss (unless they are upset by Washington) heading into the College Football Playoff Selection Show, with that one loss being No. 2 Indiana.

Following the win on Saturday, Lanning took a shot at SEC scheduling and the College Football Playoff Rankings. With a grin on his face, Lanning boasted about the fact that the Big Ten plays nine conference games while (presumably the SEC) spent most of their week playing bye-games.

“We just played a really good team and we beat them,” Lanning said. “A lot of times we play really good teams that become unranked all of a sudden and that’s not our fault. Maybe it is our fault, but all we’re worried about is playing the teams we play and doing the job we need to do. We did that job today, and I think that the proof is in the pudding. We played a good team and we beat them.

“All we can do next week is try and do the same thing. This conference is a really good conference. It’s competitive. We didn’t play Chattanooga State today, like some other places. We competed, so with that being said, it’s tough playing nine conference games. It’s tough playing in this league and we got to take advantage of playing a good team today and attacking that.”

Mark Ingram says there’s ‘no comparison’ between Oregon’s schedule and an SEC schedule

FOX Big Noon Kickoff‘s Mark Ingram responded to Lanning’s comments on Wednesday’s edition of ‘The Triple Option‘, where he

“Everyone else schedules (cupcake games) the first 2-3 weeks of the season,” Ingram said. “What’s the difference? We’ve got Indiana, who played Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, and Indiana State their first three weeks. I love Dan Lanning and I’m gonna let him leave here. But, they played Montana State and Oklahoma State to start. Really, what’s the difference? I’m gonna let him live because I like Coach Lanning and he’s a fan of the show. But at the end of the day, there is no comparison between Oregon‘s schedule and Alabama‘s schedule.”

“Same with Oregon‘s schedule and Georgia‘s schedule. Oregon‘s schedule and Florida‘s schedule. Yes, it was cupcake week in the SEC. But also, Texas A&M played Notre Dame earlier in the season. Alabama played Florida State. Just because they schedule theirs in the first 2-3 weeks of the season and we scheduled ours in the back-end, it doesn’t matter man. There’s no difference in scheduling.”

Oregon has faced scrutiny this season for its schedule, which Lanning alluded to in his comments. The Ducks actually owned two ranked victories heading into the game (No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 27 and No. 20 Iowa on Nov. 8), but those programs have been nowhere close to the College Football Playoff Rankings.

The win over USC finally gives Oregon a strong victory to hang its hat on and pretty much wrap up a spot in the CFP, barring a complete meltdown of a loss to Washington.