McLaughlin: Dan Lanning, Ducks Find A Way To Win Big Ten Title
By SPENCER McLAUGHLIN
Contributor, 750 The Game
Oregon didn’t play a particularly pretty football game. They kept the penalties to a minimum, much to the chagrin of Penn State coach James Franklin, but the defense was missing.
Penn State ran for more yards than the last 3 opponents combined were able to do against this Oregon defense. A unit that hadn’t allowed more than 130 yards on the ground since mid October was unable to tackle Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, a pair of outstanding running backs. The Ducks were outgained on the ground 292 to 183 and found a way to win anyway.
I was reminded of Dan Lanning’s former mentor Kirby Smart when the green and yellow confetti rained down at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday night.
In 2022 en route to a national Championship domination of TCU, undefeated Georgia couldn’t slow down Ohio State led by QB CJ Stroud. NFL scouts haven’t given up on Drew Allar and he showed why, despite the 2 interceptions, a pro team might give him a chance to start one day. His numbers weren’t eye popping but he made some dynamite plays that you can’t really stop.
Georgia won the game 42-41. It wasn’t a dominant defensive effort like the Bulldogs’ fans had become accustomed to, but it was a win all the same.
Coming into this season I heard from countless college football fans (Oregon included) that Dan Lanning “needed more big wins” on his resume. Can we put that narrative to bed now?
The lack of defense is what impressed me most about this win. Great teams can win all sorts of ways. Run-game dominant, pass-heavy, blowouts, shootouts, slugfests, and other football thesaurus terms I’ve left out. Dan Lanning’s team has shown them all this season.
The defense has things to work on during the long layoff before Oregon’s Quarterfinal matchup with the winner of Tennesee and Ohio State at the Rose Bowl on January 1st. Speaking of which, how insane is this 12-team Playoff format? I still take flack for my long running take that the 12-team format isn’t good for college football, partly in due to the part where I don’t trust the powers at be to get more things right when they already get so many things wrong. But more on that for Thursday.
Dillon Gabriel was wearing a lot of flowers around his neck after the game, and he deserved even more than he had. The Ducks’ QB once again delivered in a big game with 283 yards and 4 touchdowns passing with some timely runs to march the Oregon offense up and down the field. They started fast, scored when they needed to, and came up clutch situationally against one of the 5 best statistical defenses in all of college football. Penn State’s defense wasn’t fraudulent, the Oregon offense was just firing on all cylinders–and that started with #8 behind center.
Tez Johnson won the Big 10 Championship Game MVP with 11 receptions for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown. He did so with his biological parents watching in person for the first time ever. I imagine he’s having a great couple of days and Dillon Gabriel should give him some of those flowers–with a few leftover for the training staff that got him back to full strength from an injury suffered against Michigan.
The win is huge for Dan Lanning. Huge for “That Team Out West” to beat the top 3 programs in the Big 10 in its first year. Lanning looks to have secured another top 5 recruiting class nationally for the second straight year, and this game does nothing but balloon their efforts on the trail.
Oregon doesn’t have the easiest path to a national title, but they will have 1 fewer game to play than those with first round matchups beginning on December 20th. Lanning and his staff will have plenty of time to prepare for either the Vols or the Buckeyes, with an emphasis on getting the defense back to where it’s been most of the year.
Lanning would probably like to give you an acronym if asked about Oregon having a tougher path, despite being the only unbeaten team in all of college football.
FEBU.
Spencer McLaughlin is an Oregon Ducks football contributor to 750 The Game. He also hosts the “Locked On Oregon Ducks” and “Locked On College Football” podcasts and has work featured throughout the season here.