EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning acknowledged the challenges his team faced in their narrow victory over Idaho, emphasizing the learning opportunities the game presented. In a post-game press conference, Lanning shared his thoughts on the game, crediting Idaho for their strong performance while also recognizing areas where the Ducks need to improve.

"All I know is he needs a little bit of time to change his mind," Lanning said, addressing the adjustments needed after the game. "I'm going to get a little bit of A and B right in the middle."

Despite the win, Lanning was candid about the game not unfolding as expected. "Different than what we thought it might look like," he admitted, highlighting the unpredictability of the match. "On the same note, got to give a lot of credit to Idaho. They played a really good game. They didn't give us anything for free. A lot of learning moments for us."

Lanning expressed his desire to create more explosive plays, a goal that was not fully realized against Idaho. "We didn't create some of the explosive plays I was hoping that we could create offensively. Gave up a couple critical plays on defense," he noted. "So certainly some things for us to attack, but a lot of credit to Coach Eck and his guys. They came out and played a good game."

When asked about Idaho's strategy, Lanning acknowledged their effectiveness. "They did a good job of stopping our interior run game. And we struggled at times to get the ball on the perimeter and be able to move it down," he said. "I think they did a really good job of staying on top, you know, defensively as well to stop us from creating, you know, explosive plays down the field."

The Ducks' defense, while showing strengths, also had areas to improve. "We were poor against the screen at times. Some of our situational play where we knew tricks would come up, they did and didn't execute, you know, properly in those situations," Lanning said. "But I think great teams do that."

Oregon's offensive line, a usual strength, faced challenges in this game. "We have to go back and evaluate the film and evaluate how we can improve and get better there," Lanning remarked. "An early sack there was when we actually gave Chip protection on the edge and knocked him into an available gap to where he was able to create pressure."

The passing game, while productive, left room for more. "We did throw for, what, 380 yards, so there was still some passing game," Lanning noted. "But we have to be a team that can create some explosive plays, and we didn't generate enough of those today."

Lanning also addressed the play of key players like Dylan Gabriel and Brandon Johnson. "Ultimately Dylan operated, you know, within the offense well. Thought he understood what we were trying to accomplish. Made some good decisions," Lanning said. "Brandon, you know, he showed up in big moments. The pick in the end zone was a really, really big play, obviously, for us."

As the team looks ahead, Lanning emphasized the importance of improvement. "There's areas for improvement for us right now. You celebrate wins in our program when that happens, but there's some areas for improvement," he reiterated. "We have high expectations for ourselves, for sure. But every single game, you know, we're finding things that we can go clean out."

In the end, Lanning summed up the game succinctly: "The score is what the score was."