Watch: Dan Lanning discusses Oregon's Week 13 matchup with Oregon State

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters Monday and discussed a number of key topics.

The No. 12 Ducks (9-2, 7-1) will have an opportunity to secure a trip to the Pac-12 title game this weekend when they face the No. 22 Oregon State Beavers (8-3, 5-3) in Corvallis.

Lanning opened his press conference by thanking the program’s fans for their support during Saturday’s 20-17 win over Utah.

“It was a lot of fun for our plays; it was a tough game, a really tough win against a good thing,” Lanning said. “It certainly doesn’t get any easier, because Oregon State is playing some really good football. We’re ready to roll against them.”

Watch Lanning’s full Monday press conference below.

Key quotes

How close was OL Ryan Walk to not playing last Saturday?

“I’m not gonna spend a ton of time talking about injuries, obviously. But we have a lot of tough kids. It’s that time of year when you’re banged up and you’re hurting. It’s not week one anymore. So, we have a lot of guys that are banged up and Ryan’s certainly one of those guys who has battled through it and made sure he’s made his way to the field.”

How will you try to neutralize Oregon State running back Damien Martinez?

“Tackling is going to be really important in this game. … (Oregon State) have done a good job. They have more rushing attempts than anybody else in the conference game in and game out, and they do a good job of running the ball. They’re committed to it.

“They’re able to find extra hats at the point of attack. So we’re gonna have to have some guys win some one on ones and then do a great job tackling when they get the opportunity.”

Does preparation feel any different when you know that it’s Oregon State week?

“It doesn’t take any extra juice for our guys. I think they appreciate this game and know what it means. I love rivalries when it comes to rivalries in college football. So this is certainly one of the great ones and I think our guys are excited and ready to go play.”

Why is it important for you to promote NIL opportunities on social media?

“I’ve said it before that college football is about to become the haves and have-nots. Luckily, here at Oregon, we’re in a place where we’re one of the haves. We’re in a place that’s being innovative and finding ways to grow our student-athletes brand. What’s fun about this stuff is our students actually partnered with designers and actually got to help create a clothing line, create a brand, work with real professionals.

“It’s not just a collective. It’s an opportunity to actually grow professionally at the same time. And it supports our players and that’ll always be my goal as a coach; looking for opportunities to support our players. So any way that we’re able to pour into the growth of name, image, likeness, and growing the brand for our players, and doing it in a way that’s going to help them become more successful in life, that’s something we want to be able to do here.

“Certainly grateful for Division Street, DucksRising, all those groups that do so much for us.”