It was supposed to be one of the best games on the college football schedule Saturday -- a showdown of ranked 3-0 teams inside a packed Autzen Stadium with the Deion Sanders effect providing an additional spotlight to matchup.
Instead, it was a one-sided statement from the No. 10-ranked Ducks, who rolled to a 42-6 win over the No. 19 Buffaloes on Saturday.
Here's everything Oregon coach Dan Lanning said afterward as his team moved to 4-0 in resounding fashion.
RELATED: Game breakdown: Ducks roll to 42-6 win over Colorado
Opening Statement:
“Absolutely tremendous job by our crowd today. You talk about what the Autzen experience can be like, and it was beyond phenomenal. It’s what I love so much about this place. We have passionate fans, who are more passionate than any other fans in the nation. We were prepared for a battle. It didn’t end up being a battle, but I have also been on the other end of this before, too, and I think that team is headed in the right direction. I think Coach [Deion Sanders] is doing a phenomenal job. Obviously, he has brought great enthusiasm and response from his players, and I know that they will bounce back from this. On the same note, I get a little passionate at times, a little excited about what I want to accomplish for our team, and I just want to say I need to humble myself a little bit. This is one game. I am not satisfied, that’s just what I told our players. We’re about to go play great quarterbacks. We’re about to go play great teams moving forward, and it’s about how good we can become. It’s not really about who we play. It’s about Oregon vs. Oregon every week. I felt like this was a complete game, offense and defensive and special teams. Didn’t create a takeaway on defense, but had some big plays and were dominant in all three phases. I thought you could watch our team and say they have an identity in all three phases. Preparing for the next one and ready to go back to work for Stanford. I know that they’ll be ready. This’ll be a road game, I know we didn’t play as well on the road earlier this year. It’s time for us to show what we can do on the road moving forward.”
On his pregame speech:
“I thought they handled it well and I thought they handled their focus well. We do a pregame speech, I guess there was a camera in there this time. That doesn’t really change our approach. We’ll always have a message for our team. Sometimes it’s to get them fired up and sometimes we don’t necessarily need the brimstone. There’s no speech that wins games, players win games. Our players went out there and they won the game. Our players went out there and executed and our players went out there, and decided to go out there, and make a decision to be poised, focused, and play with their pads. Not with anything else and that’s what I’m proud of. Making that decision, it’s an ‘us’ decision, not a ‘me’ decision.” On the defense playing a complete game: “It’s one game and it’s about being consistent in your approach. I’m really pleased with them, I thought they were dialed in. I thought they did a good job of eliminating explosive plays. That’s a team that creates a lot of explosive plays. I felt they had a good feel and I thought our coaching staff did a phenomenal job. Certainly, something we can build off of and now it’s about can you do that consistently. Can you be consistent in your approach? I think we learned a little about ourselves and patience. There’s a value in patience. We were able to apply pressure and able to be disruptive to the quarterback, but it wasn’t like we were out there blitzing seven every down. Having some patience, consistency, recognizing formations, and Autzen Stadium having a feel for the game. I thought our coaches and players did a phenomenal job of adjusting. Have to carry that over to each week.”
On the feeling on the win and handing Colorado its first loss:
“I’m not hung up on that. If you’re really about substance, it’s about what’s next for us and our players. I’m glad that we got to put Oregon in the light that Oregon deserves to be in. It’s not about anything else besides our team and getting our team ready to go play and now we have to go get ready for the next one. We don’t need to be the team that’s reading the articles in the newspaper. We don’t need to be the team that’s following Twitter. We weren’t that team this week, so we’re certainly not going to be that team next week. Again, we have to humble ourselves, including myself and our staff, and focus on what’s next.”
On Oregon’s pass rush:
“They haven’t really been a team that has ran the ball, so I think we knew there were going to be pass-rush opportunities. It really speaks to the patience of when we do execute a game, let’s go attack and be on the move. I thought our guys did a good job of that. When they don’t have great balance, it allows you to be more disruptive in the pass-rush game. It allows you to build your games on the front. Moreso for a passing game than a run game. I thought our guys did a good job of executing that.”
On the impression Bo made today:
“We got the best quarterback in the nation. I know that and I can see that. Again, you see all the plays that he throws and the plays he makes with his feet. You don’t see all the checks that he makes. You don’t see all that he does for this team. You don’t see his leadership. He sent a text to me this morning that was impactful for me. That guy shapes me and he makes me a better person. We got that guy on our team, so we’re so blessed to have him.” On how little the team was talked about coming into this week: “I don’t care how much anyone talks about us, but if we can find fuel for the fire, we will certainly use it.”
On the statement the defense made today:
“It’s one game. Again, for me, it’s about a consistent approach and can you do that on the road. Can you remove self-inflicted wounds. I think it creates belief when you have a game like that, but I know what we are about to play. We’re going to have some of the best offenses in this conference as we move forward, and you can’t be satisfied with that result.”
On the new guys on defense (Jordan Burch, Evan Williams and Khyree Jackson):
“You look at our track record, you bring a guy in, they normally can help us, and all those guys have enhanced us. Just as much as they are good players on the field, they are good people. They fit our culture and work tremendously hard. They don’t care what the rep count is but when they get an opportunity they take advantage of it, and I think all those guys are tremendous for us and will continue to be.” On Khyree Jackon’s growth: “He has grown. Khyree has the ability to be an elite corner, not just here but at the next level. I'm glad I can coach Khyree. I can tell him this is what he has to improve on, and he owns it and accepts it. There are definitely opportunities for growth moving forward and the more he shapes his game and continues to grow, he can be really special.”
On the versatility of the offense and how they can move forward:
“They took great steps today. Our offensive coaches did an awesome job preparing for this one and had great answers. You don’t always know what you’re going to get from a team, but they were prepared and made some great adjustments to things we thought hurt us in earlier weeks. We worked on some things we wanted to get better at, and I thought that showed up during the game. It's about consistent growth and the next step, but I think they did a good job today.”
On why that was the right time for the fake punt:
“Because we’ve probably ran that thing 47 times in practice and the right time is when they don’t think it's coming. We had some momentum, and I believe in our defense, and they’ve been operating at a high level. I'm not interested in running fake punts when everybody thinks we’re going to run a fake punt, you kind of want to hit them when they don’t expect it."
On Troy Franklin with his third 100-yard game this season and taking his game to the next level:
“What he can continue to do, is not care about that. I didn’t know that. I know Troy is playing well but I didn’t know he had three 100-yard receiving (games). My expectation for Troy is that he always can. If you ever want to single cover him, he’s a guy you can take advantage of. He has done a good job with yards after catch, and I challenge him to continue to protect the ball and keep playing with great emotion but within his teammates. Troy is special, man. He really is a phenomenal kid. He’s hungry, I've seen big strides from him and his preparation and desire to be elite, but certainly not done yet.”
On the momentum Bucky Irving creates:
“That dude is tough, man, that group is tough, their coach is tough. I think that shows up in the way they play. They are a selfless group that I am really proud of.”
On fixing penalties:
“It's about what the penalties were. There were a couple that I need to go back and watch the film on first before I have a fair decision on. I have to evaluate those first to make sure. I know our players are conscientious about it and some of them still showed up so we’re going to keep coaching it. That doesn’t mean we’re going to coach it the same way, but we’ll continue to address it. I don’t know if the play clock ran out, it didn’t look like it to me on the field to me on the delay of game, maybe it had, so that’s my mistake but there were a couple other ones we weren't sure about. We’ll evaluate it and make sure we continue to better that.”
On Bo’s performance this year vs. last year:
“I am not a big comparison guy, but Bo is operating extremely efficiently. Will (Stein) and him are on the same page. We’re sitting in those huddles and Bo called some of those touchdown plays. He’s sitting here saying ‘what do you guys think about this?’. Great call, let's do that. I am really comfortable with our quarterback, and I know he won't ever let the moment get too big for him, but he's playing at a high level right now.”
On Noah Whittington’s Injury:
“I don’t normally talk about injuries, and I think there's still more to be decided, but I think Noah is going to be down for a little bit, so I need everybody to say prayers for him. He is healthy, he is ok but he’s going to be down for a little bit. I need everybody to have Noah in your prayers and that is a tough kid, man. Tough kid that we’re really proud of and fortunate to have and there are bright days ahead for Noah. I just don’t know that we’ll have them here in the next few weeks.”
On the play on the line of scrimmage and what it says about the team:
“If you want to have a winning team, a successful team, it starts up front. Every game starts up front and they started up there for us today.”
