Dan Lanning calls Penn State ‘extremely talented’ ahead of White Out test: ‘They play with relentless effort'

Penn State is officially done with its bye week and turning the page to its biggest game of the season to date. The Lions (3-0) will host Oregon (4-0) this Saturday at Beaver Stadium in a rematch of the 2024 Big Ten title game that the Ducks won 45-37 last December at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Head coach Dan Lanning’s team started this year with four consecutive wins, although it started slow in Saturday’s eventual 41-7 rivalry game win over Oregon State.

“Thought we started off a little bit slow, and then obviously really came together in the second, third, fourth quarter, there to finish it out and have a dominant performance,” Lanning said Saturday night in Eugene, according to OregonLive. “We talked about winning the trenches before this game started, and to be able to rush for almost 300 yards and hold them to under 100 rushing after we started so poorly was a big win for us. And overall, operated well.

“We’ve got to be cleaner in some of our issues there, from a penalty standpoint, just our operation overall, but ultimately, a dominant performance and a really good challenge for us to go ahead into this next week as we go to Penn State.”

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What else did Dan Lanning say about Penn State on Saturday?

As you can likely imagine, most of Lanning’s news conference focused on the game his team just played rather than its next one. But, since he brought up Penn State in his opening statement, reporters did later ask him a couple of questions about the Lions.

Where is Oregon at before Penn State after a 4-0 start?

“I think we’ll get a really good gauge of that as we play Penn State,” Lanning said, per BWI sister site Scoop Duck. “I think this is a team that’s obviously extremely talented. Feel good about our team. I really like our team. This will be good environment for us to go play in. We’re gonna be playing people that have a lot of talent as well, and good scheme on both sides of the ball. It’ll be a real challenge for us.”

On Oregon focusing on Oregon State and not looking ahead to Penn State:

“Yeah, one game at a time,” Lanning said, per OregonLive. “We had to focus on this game this week. I know they have a bye this week, so they were able to focus on us, but our focus was on Oregon State. But that’s why we’ve got to be able to flip the switch quick and move on and get ready for Penn State.”

What are Lanning’s initial thoughts on the Lions?

“They’re really talented,” Lanning said, per OregonLive. “Schematically, as challenging as anybody we’ll play, as far as what they present on both sides of the ball. They play with relentless effort, they play well on special teams. Coach Franklin’s teams are always well coached. So, it will be a real challenge for us, but one we’re excited to attack.”