Dan Lanning Provides Final Updates Ahead of No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 7 Indiana

College Football’s game of the week will take place in Eugene this week as the No. 3 Oregon Ducks host the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers. It’s be a battle of two undefeated teams and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters in Eugene to give his final updates ahead of kickoff.

Below is a transcription of his press conference and full video.

Opening statement: Good day of work today, still a lot of details to clean up when you have a team that does so much on the other side. They really present some tough challenges that we have to be prepared for. But our guys have had a good week of practice so far.”

On team needing to have blinders on, young players experience success

Lanning: “I think they’ve done a good job of I’m saying hey, this is the standard. This is what we expect us to do in certain moments, and knowing that we’re basing it off not the result, but what the process should look like.”

On Dakorien Moore’s leadership

Lanning: “Just the improvement, right? I think one of the best ways you can lead is continue to grow. And he’s gotten better and better, and he’s grown a voice. He feels very comfortable speaking in front of the team, saying with what he sees. And I think his play is speaking for itself. As long as that continues to improve and grow like it has, it’s going to make a huge impact.”

On Malik Benson, what he’s brought to the team

Lanning: “I said it to Malik the other day, man, he’s just, you recognize him as a really good teammate. You see a guy down, he’s over there. He’s going to make sure he gets him up. You see a guy on the ground, he’s going to help him up off the ground. He’s going to be one of these guys that, regardless of who scores the touchdown, if it’s him or somebody, I mean, he’s celebrating it like he just scored. He’s a selfless person. He’s a really dynamic player for us. It’ been nice to have on this team.”

On staying disciplined when facing Nevada RPOs

Lanning: “Similar to what I said earlier in the week that you gotta farm your land. You have to do your job, trust the guy next to you to do his and then rally to the ball when it is decided where that ball’s going.”

On Dakorien Moore speaking to the media, being a face of the team

Lanning: “I just think that we have some guys that are in roles where they’re helping us early, and want to give those guys an opportunity.”

On where he’s seen greatest amount of growth in Dakorien Moore

Lanning: “Probably just more than anything, the way he deals with adversity. You come in and you expect yourself to have a lot of success, and he’s done a great job of handling success. I think it’s hard when things don’t go right, and how he’s handled those moments in practice, how he’s continued to grow. I think that’s that’s that’s huge. And there’s a lot of pressure on a guy like him and his status, there’s a lot of eyes, and he’s been able to handle that pressure really well.”

On Indiana RB Roman Hemby

Lanning: “I think everybody thinks RPO and they think about the passes. They don’t realize that they’re a really explosive run team. Those guys have good quickness. They hit the hole, get vertical quickly, and that’s certainly what sets everything else up in the run game, is that is the run first, sets up the RPOs and makes people have a loaded box. So they’ve done a really good job around the ball this year, well over 200 yards rushing a game, which is impressive.”

On importance of in-game adjustments

Lanning: “Yeah there’ll certainly be something different in this game, and you don’t know exactly what that’ll be. So our coaches have done a really good job throughout games this season of ID’ing the different looks and how we can best defend, or best attack on offense. And that’ll be a big piece of this game, for sure.”

On Elijah Sarratt, challenges Indiana presents for the secondary

Lanning: “50/50 balls. Can’t be 50/50 balls, right? We have to be able to go compete for those and win on defense, and vice versa same thing on offense. When you get one on one you have to be able to take advantage of it. So they’ve done a really good job when they have one on one coverage, taking advantage of those guys, and they have big catch radiuses, and they attack the ball.”

On Dante Moore’s emotion having impacting the rest of the team

Lanning: “I think it’s more that. I think it’s more about the hard work, right? And they realize hard work works right? There’s no secret sauce, right? If you’re willing to put in the effort and the time and you have the talent, right? It’ll pay off. And he’s been a great example of that.”

On what’s made Jadon Canady sucessfull

Lanning: “One he works really hard, right? That’s a common theme with our players. When your best players are some of your hardest workers, that’s something that separates it. And then I think Jadon has an unbelievable football IQ, just natural instincts, ability. You talk about football instincts, he’s a guy that has great football instincts. He can feel routes, he understands where the quarterback is working. He plays with great speed and physicality. Those things all really, really matter at that position.”

On when it was clear Dakorien Moore was mentally ready to be a contributor

Lanning: “Every single person is different, but the the amount of plays and load that we put on these guys mentally, I think can be really taxing. And I feel like our playbook is as open as it’s ever been based on those guys being out there on the field and learning your job. So that’s just a great example. Some guys, they come in and they learn packages, and you build it up. He’s a guy that’s been able to handle it all, throw the kitchen sink at him and mentally handle what we’re asking him to do.”