Dan Lanning Reacts to No. 8 Oregon's 42-13 Win Over Minnesota: 'We're a physical football team'

The No. 8 Oregon Ducks moved to 9-1 on the year and improved their Big Ten record to 6-1 with a dominant 42-13 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday night in Eugene. Head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters following the win to give his breakdown of Oregon’s performance.

Find some of his key quotes below.

Opening Statement: “An unbelievable job by our crowd tonight. It was great to be back in front of our fans. I thought our players played well in all three phases. Certainly some things that we can improve, but coming off a short week, to be able to come out and perform the way they did, whether it was just the efficiency of our offense and our quarterback, our defense being able to limit their
rushing opportunities. Still some things we can walk away with and get better at certainly, but
proud of the guy’s performance tonight. And then I want to just take the time as well to send
our condolences to coach (John) Beam and his family. You know, it’s really sad when you see
somebody that made such an impact on people lose his life and an opportunity that he
shouldn’t have. And I know we don’t know all the details, but you know this, that guy made an
unbelievable impact on a lot of people. And a lot of our coaches love our staff, players
recognize the impact that he made and remember him and will always remember him fondly.
So, hate to see him go and really feeling for him and his family at this time.“

On Dante Moore‘s performance

Lanning: “I think it’s a great performance by Dante, but I think he’d be the first tell you too there were
some unbelievable catches within that, some great protection, really efficient today on offense,
which is, you know, pleasing to see those, those guys go out there, but there’s some
unbelievable catches that were made. And you know that always, you know, that’s a great
indicator of how the offense is operating, but it’s a team award, really. When you look at it,
when you look at his success, he can’t throw it and catch it, and we had some guys who were
doing a great job of catching it tonight, and he certainly threw the ball in some tight coverages,
and guys made plays. So great performance by our QB, been impressed with him all year. Glad
we had great weather that he could have the opportunity to throw it and take advantage of.”

On Oregon tight ends

Lanning: “I think it’s tough. A lot of times when tight ends come in the game, it’s is to run the ball, and our tight ends are like having wide outs on the field, and all three of those guys that did an
unbelievable job.”

On Kenyon Sadiq‘s big game

Lanning: “He’s a game changer for us. Im really proud. He had a good week of practice. Im glad we were able to shut him down there for a little bit and get him back. But he felt really good coming in tonight. He was predicting that it would feel like this. And the way he warmed up in the game, the way he worked this
week, it felt like it could have the potential to be a good week for him.”

On offensive coaching staff

Lanning: “I think it’s unbelievable job by our offensive staff, great job by Will (Stein), great job by
our players. You know, a lot of those plays are plays that we’ve been able to execute
throughout the season, and the ability to switch and change personnels make it really tough for
a defense. When you can be an empty and open or you can be in three back sets, that variety, I
think, makes it challenging to prepare for.”

On Oregon’s physicality

Lanning: “We’re a physical football team. I don’t think that’s any secret. And again, it shows up in  practice. It’s a mindset that these players have. They want to fight for the extra yard. They want to try to stop the extra yard on defense. But that shows up consistently for our team, and it certainly paid off tonight.”

On wide receivers stepping up

Lanning: “Yeah, we’ve said strength in numbers all season, and you know, these last couple games, it’s
really starting to show up where, you know, we need other guys to step up and create
opportunities, and they’ve done a great job of that.”

On extra day ahead of facing USC

Lanning: “Yeah, a little recovery time for us tomorrow gives the coaches a chance to get a little bit of a jump ahead, look ahead. Obviously we’ll be able to watch their game tomorrow and see what that looks like, but we primarily use tomorrow as recovery day and opportunity for coaches to get an advanced look at USC.”