EUGENE, Ore. — The way last season ended still eats at Oregon coach Dan Lanning, all these months later. When I asked him this summer how the Ducks turned the page from a 41-21 shellacking at the Rose Bowl, Lanning told me he hasn’t. He still thinks about it every night before he goes to bed and every morning when he wakes up. He joked that he should probably see a therapist.
I was thinking about Lanning’s comments a lot this week during my trek to and from Eugene. I went to chat with Lanning and his coordinators ahead of the massive Oregon-Penn State game this weekend in State College. It’s a game that features the No. 3 Nittany Lions and No. 6 Ducks, a matchup very much deserving of its “White-Out” designation and one that will kick off at primetime on NBC.
For all the talk this week about James Franklin’s record in big games at Penn State — he’s 1-15 vs. AP top-five teams and 4-20 vs. the AP top 10 — there’s also quite a bit at stake for Lanning and co. Saturday night. It’s Oregon’s first real test of the season and its first real opportunity to put last season’s failures behind it.
“I’m not going to act like there’s no pressure,” Franklin said of Penn State’s matchup with Oregon. “(But) this is why you choose Penn State. It’s why I came here as the head coach, to have these types of opportunities and to play these type of games.”
The Ducks spent the second half of last season ranked No. 1 in the country. They went undefeated in their first season in the Big Ten and were the top-seeded team in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. And then, of course, they lost to the eventual national champion, Ohio State, in the quarterfinals.
This season feels very different. Despite a 4-0 start and an average margin of victory of 41.5 points, Oregon is flying more under the radar. East Coast bias is a real thing, especially for box score-watchers who don’t want to tune into a blowout, so that’s part of it. There’s been chaos in the SEC and the Arch Manning of it all, too, so it’s easy to see why attention spans aren’t necessarily focused on the Ducks.
What that has done, however, is allowed Oregon to figure out how best to fire on all cylinders without a ton of scrutiny — which is a good thing. Now, four games in, Dante Moore looks incredibly impressive and polished, in full command of this offense with a plethora of weapons on the outside. The Ducks have the nation’s 10th-most prolific rushing attack with four different running backs accounting for multiple touchdowns. True freshman Dakorien Moore is a star in the making, and tight end Kenyon Sadiq has already arrived as the sport’s next great tight end.
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“I’ve never coached a player quite like (Sadiq),” Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein told me this week. “I’m sure it’s what Georgia felt with Brock Bowers or what (Penn State offensive coordinator Andy) Kotelnicki felt with Tyler Warren.”
Put another way: That’s a very fun player for Stein to play around with in his offense. Stein also told me that what’s unique about Moore at the helm of this offense is that he’s had two years to learn it. This is actually the first quarterback that Stein has had in Eugene that’s got a full season-plus under his belt in Stein’s offense. Bo Nix was in his second year at Oregon when Stein inherited him, but the two had just one (very successful) season together. Dillon Gabriel was a one-and-done quarterback last year as well. Stein said Moore is so far ahead in his development because he sat behind Gabriel last year.
“He just processes the game so well,” Stein said. “He can see the whole field. He understands the strengths and weaknesses of every play.”
Through four games, Moore is completing 74.7 percent of his passes. He’s thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns to just one interception. He’s been sacked just once. And he’s unafraid to air it out; 16.8 percent of his pass attempts are 20 yards or longer — he’s 9-of-16 in such situations — and Oregon has scored touchdowns on five of the nine completions. He’s putting the ball exactly where it needs to be for each of his pass-catchers.
And Oregon believes Moore has been tested, day in and day out, by the Ducks’ own defense. Even if he hasn’t been challenged much or pressured often — he’s faced pressure on just 21 percent of his drop backs — he’s getting reps and experience against an Oregon defense that boasts some of the best pass rushers in the country in Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti. The Ducks’ duo has combined for 7.5 tackles for loss and 16 total pressures generated (sacks, hits and hurries combined, per PFF) through four games. Of course, Penn State is no slouch in this area, and Dani Dennis-Sutton will likely be the best edge defender that Oregon faces all year.
The No. 6 Oregon Ducks go head-to-head with the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions in a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Championship game. Live coverage begins at 7 PM ET.
The Nittany Lions have elite talent littered across the field. They have a veteran quarterback and veteran running backs who came back to chase a national championship — the same goal that Oregon has, even though it has never won one. These are the kinds of games and the type of measuring stick that tells us a lot about both teams.
Saturday will, finally, tell Lanning whether he can put last season in the past to focus on big goals and a bright future for this year’s roster. And, perhaps, he can sleep a little more soundly.
