Dan Lanning on Playing at Iowa: "It's not going to feel like a home game."

On Monday Dan Lanning met with media as usual to discuss the weekends upcoming game. The Ducks are expecting a tough road game in Iowa this weekend. And Dan Lanning talked about his past experience playing at Kinnick Stadium in his GA days.

Here are his top comments about the team and gearing up for the game coming out of the bye week.

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Opening Statement:

“It’s a good weekend this past weekend, watching our cross-country teams dominate and go win the Big Ten. We got to visit with Rob about that a little bit this past weekend when we were on the road recruiting. Obviously, basketball season kicking off. Our women are winning right now over at Matthew Knight, and guys are teeing off tomorrow. So excited for this part of the season for us. Our guys have been working really hard.

I’ve got a ton of respect for this Iowa team. You see veterans across the board, you know, and how they play. They’re a real complete team, and they’re a team that beats you in all three phases. Really tough and special teams with the return play that they have, probably the best returner in college football right now.

Their defense, you know, they choke you out. They do a great job of taking away easy access. Their defensive line really stands out to me on film with the technique that they play with and just in general the way they fly the ball. And then they run the ball really well, and they have a quarterback that’s dynamic with the ball in his hands.

So it’s going to be a real challenge for us in a great environment in Iowa. Obviously, Coach Ferentz does a really good job.”

So we can open it up. All right, Zach. You always say that bye weeks are work weeks. What was the main objective for you guys this past week? And how do you feel about where this team’s at going into this final stretch of games?

Yeah, I really like the work that our guys got in. You know, this past week, I think we found some things that we could grow from. Talked a little bit about it, you know, last week, just our ability to jump into some self-scout, attack some things that we felt like we could improve, and then really identify what’s going to show up with these upcoming opponents.

In my mind, we’re kind of in the third quarter of the season with what we’re facing. And there’s some great teams that we’re going to see over the next few weeks, and Iowa certainly sets that off. I’m shocked this team isn’t ranked. If you look at the way they’ve been playing, especially recently, and the job that they’ve done. They jumped out really fast against the Minnesota team that plays good football, had a big win this past weekend. So I think this team probably is not getting near enough credit that they deserve for the kind of team that they are.

On Iowa’s QB:

“Yeah, I mean, their run game is really good, and they do a great job complementing their run game with play-action game. They’re as good as any team that we’ve played so far in the screen game as well, and he’s got some weapons that he can throw to. But he’s able to push the ball down the field, and then he can make you accountable with his legs. If everything’s covered, he can take off with it, and he carries it in critical situations. He’s obviously been a winner in the past and is operating really well for them.”

On Iowa’s Defense:

Well, they’re extremely well coached. I mean, that shows up. There’s not a weakness. They’re very sound. Like I said, I think it all starts with their defensive line and the way they play up front. They eat up a ton of blocks up front. They’re really aggressive. They’re hard to get to the second level on because they do such a good job with the defensive line. Their safeties do a great job supporting the run, and their backers scrape and fit really well. And, you know, they put their guys at times on islands, and you don’t see people take advantage of it because they perform really well outside. So it’s just tough. It’s a suffocating defense. They do a good job.”

On Starting Fast:

“Well, it’s not the most important thing, you know, but I think it’s always easier when you start off fast.
But a team like this, it can be tough, you know, to create winners. And they’ve won, you know, a lot with field position. They’ve always been really good in special teams. So just as important as making sure you love to go down there and score quick, but that’s not the way it always plays out. I do think it’s important that we win in a lot of the phases that they’re really good at.

We’ve got to be good in special teams. We’ve got to be able to run the ball effectively, stop the run, got to protect the ball. In any of those categories, if they do a really good job in those areas, it makes it hard for us to have success.”

On Playing in Iowa:

“I can promise you being at Kennett before as a GA when we were at Pitt and we played them, it’s not going to feel like a home game. It’s a cool environment, though. This is one of those ones that you get excited to get the opportunity to play in front of, and I’m sure I’ll have some family and friends there. But this environment, it’s a great one. They do it the right way, obviously, with the Children’s Hospital. A lot of their pieces, pink locker rooms. There’s a feel to this one, and it means a lot to the people in Iowa. They turn out really well for this game, so I’m expecting a great crowd.”