Dan Lanning Talks Penn State Matchup, Injury Updates

Penn State week is finally here and No. 6 Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters in Eugene Monday night before the Ducks travel to Happy Valley for a primetime White Out matchup against the No. 3 Nittany Lions.

Below are most of Lanning’s top quotes and full video of his press conference.

Opening statement: “Certainly excited for this one. I know you guys have been thinking about this one for a long time, and now we finally can focus on as well. I mean, Penn State is an extremely talented team. They do do it well in all three phases. Coach (James) Franklin runs a great organization, and they present a ton of challenges. I’ve said it before, but defensively, they’re as multiple and disruptive as anybody will play. They got great edge play. Dani Dennis-Sutton is one of the better defensive edge players in the league and in the nation. They’ve got good play in the back end as well. They do a great job overlapping, and have a lot of variety of schemes. Offensively, they’re really tough to prepare for ’cause they’re moving almost every play. So it just presents really challengesm the shifts and movements and motions that they do. And have great running backs, good quarterback and their wide receiver plays really stands out this year. They have some speed on the field, and then special teams are really sound so. Excited for that environment. It’s one that I haven’t been to before but have heard a lot about.”

On how much he’ll play Mo Bamba this week

Lanning: “It’ll play. It’ll play. It’ll play a couple times. We’ll do everything we can to be prepared for that environment. For sure. I don’t love that song.”

On what stands out about Penn State offense, what they’ve added at receiver

Lanning: “They have some guys that can stretch the field. They run good routes, and the quarterback can make all the throws. He’s got a big arm, they throw more intermediate passing game and shot game than we’ve really seen, and that’s one of the great compliments to the run game, is what they’re able to build off of that run game with shots down the field. So they have the guys that can go get it. They have a guy who can go throw it.”

On Penn State defense, what Jim Knowles has brought over

Lanning: “Seen a lot of scheme variation, which he had at Ohio State, but it’s a lot of the similar scheme that they carried at Ohio State. And he always has a new wrinkle. Every week you see something new that you haven’t necessarily seen on film, that he’s able to pull from, that he thinks defends you well. And that’s always going to present a good challenge.”

On most challenging part of Penn State run game

Lanning: “It’s multiple. It’s not like you can say, okay, all the point of attacks are here, right? It’s in different directions. And those guys are really good at sticking their foot in the ground and getting vertical. They’re both different runners. 10 hits it and builds the speed quick. 13, I mean, he’s playing as good as anybody right now. He’s got great vision, he’s got good patience, and he’s able to get vertical as well. So they’ve got a great O-line up front blocking for ’em. They get hats on hats. They play a physical brand, but it’s tough because of the variety of scheme.”

On Oregon run defense, Penn State rushing attack in Big Ten title game

Lanning: “Part of it became, was played a little bit based on the type of game it became and what we were willing to give up and what we weren’t. But ultimately, that’s not the standard. You gotta play to the standard. And we played to the standard in several games last year, that was not a game that we played to the standard when it came to our rushing defense. And there’s things we could have done better schematically, and then there’s things that technically we can be a lot better at as well. So, it’s certainly been a focus for us. We’ve seen highlights of us playing really good run defense this season. We’ve seen times when we haven’t. So we gotta make sure that we put our guys in great position to have success and then do a good job against this rushing attack. You’re not going to hold these guys to zero yards rushing. They’re really good at back. So we have to be able to run the ball effectively on our side of the ball, and we have to be able to stop the run in this game.”

On what he appreciates about how James Franklin runs a program

Lanning: “When you win like he’s won. I mean, he did it at Vanderbilt. He’s done it at Penn State. He’s had a lot of success. He’s had coordinator changes, and still been able to have success. They’ve adapted with times. I think they’re one of the better teams in utilizing the personnel they have. You saw what their attack looked like last year with Tyler Warren. Now what their attack looks like this year with their backs, their quarterback. Schematically on defense willingness to change and adapt. I think there’s been a lot of variety that he’s shown over the years, and ability to win.”

On Luke Reynolds

Lanning: “That’s one of the things you go back even to their offensive coordinator’s time at Kansas, he’s always done a really good job of utilizing tight ends, right? They’ve always had a lot of targets. They pop out of the ground. Really compliments their run game the way they use them. So you know they’re always going to be a threat, and somebody you have to be alert for.”

On impact of three new wide receivers from transfer portal

Lanning: “I think more than anything, just the speed. I think you see the speed that shows up, and they’ve made more plays on contested catches this year than they had in the past. But again, they have the ability to stretch the field.”

On Matayo Uiagalelei adjusting to being the focal point on D-line

Lanning: “I think before it’s all said and done, you’ll see some other NFL guys on our defensive line now. But I think Matayo’s played well. I think last game was one of his best games for us. And that doesn’t always equate to necessarily sacks or those opportunities, but rush plan working together well with pass game plan, he’s done a good job. Teitum (Tuioti) and Matayo both have kind of been leaders up there, as far as setting the fronts, communicating, being our games executed properly and what we want to be able to utilize. And the guys inside have done a really good job as well,. A’Mauri and Bear really coming along. Tionne (Gray), Terrance (Green), we’ve had a variety of guys that we can have out there in the field. Blake (Purchse), that have all done a really good job for us being able to operate out there.”

On Noah Whittington, Dylan Williams

Lanning: “I think we’ll be able to have those guys with us. We probably could have pushed it this past week.”

On growth of young corners

Lanning: “I think just experience develops confidence, and confidence is going to lead to good execution and the ability to take risks at times when it’s needed. Attack well, go make plays on the ball, like all those things are going to develop over time. So the more snaps they get, the better they’ve gotten.”