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Opening Statement

Lanning: Tight week, quick turnaround for us, but everything’s going really well so far this week. Today was really like a Tuesday in our mind, even though it’s Monday, kind of having to push things ahead and excited to get the opportunity to play a good team. Obviously, Coach Fleck does an unbelievable job. You look at his team, you recognize culture right away. They play really well on special teams. They play for each other. They have some young guys that are out there performing really well, and they have some guys that stand out on film as well, good scheme and a nice challenge for us, but certainly excited to be back in front of our fans this Friday and be a little bit different. Friday Night Lights make it a fun, fun environment for us.

Q: What did you think about the camaraderie on Saturday?

Lanning: Yeah, I thought our guys had great composure. Each guy had to do their part. It was one of those games where every phase mattered. They all contributed. And guys that were on the field, guys that weren’t on the field, were a big part of, you know, the final result there.

Q: How have you guys been so successful with the running game?

Lanning: Yeah, I think it’s that. It’s a multitude of things. You know, every year is different and unique. You know, you try to play to your team’s strengths and what they do well. We’ve also had some games that the environment dictated that we’re going to run the ball a little bit more. But, you know, really proud of our offensive staff and their creativity in the run game and what they’ve done, you know, to find ways to be able to run the ball, utilize our personnel, you know, when it matters, and control games. They’ve done a really good job there. And then kudos to our players for being able to execute a lot of schemes at a high level.

Q: How difficult is it when a player gets ruled out right before a game?

Lanning: Yeah, I think you always prepare with every scenario in mind, right? We do a game day meeting every week that we go through, okay, if this guy’s down, who’s next up? What’s that take off the call sheet? What’s that add? How many things can we work out of multiple personnel groups, you know, depending on, hey, this might normally be a 12 personnel play, but now it’s going to be an 11 play. Can different guys do that? So we try to go through a lot of those scenarios in advance and play a lot of that out. And then sometimes it happens within the game, sometimes it happens before the game.

Q: How do you think Gernorris Wilson played?

Lanning: Yeah, you know, I thought he did some things really, really well. There’s certainly some moments to have back. You know, jumped offsides there early in the game. Overall, I thought he played a complete game to be able to keep our quarterback clean in that game was good. We obviously didn’t throw it as much, but I thought Gernorris did a good job.

Q: How do you think Matayo Uiagalelei played?

Lanning: I mean, ultimately, I thought our run defense did, you know, a really good job. We gave up a couple explosives, and it wasn’t from that, but Mateo, you know, I thought they did a good job up front of controlling guys, doing more with less at times. But ultimately, I thought he played a good game.

Q: How do you think coach Fleck is doing at Minnesota?

Lanning: Well, I’ve gotten to get to know him a little bit more, since our move to the Big Ten here, and just everything I thought I knew about P.J. is not really what I knew. He’s an unbelievable human, has a cause. You know, believes in what he believes in. Like I said, you watch his team play, and you can see it on film, the energy that they play with, how they do things. I think he’s just a guy that does it the right way. And, you know, he’s been very consistent with his message and how he attacks, he challenges you in a lot of ways, and all phases prepares the right way. So, you know, just a lot of respect for him and his program. 

Q: How were you able to control the return game?

Lanning: Yeah, each week’s different, but we felt like, you know, 21 for them obviously could be a game changer in the return game. And, you know, I think he ended up with negative return yards in punt, and think we had what we would call a TFL on kickoff, you know, whenever you’re able to pin them inside the 25 so, you know, kicking game in that area is certainly one. And those guys stepped up.

Q: How big were the turnovers Brandon Finney Jr. forced?

Lanning: Yeah, first of all, I think it was a really good call by Coach Lupoi recognizing, you know, again, personnel and what we want to be in in those scenarios, something we had talked through. And then, you know, being an aggressive run fitter there for Brandon, putting his hat on the helmet. And then guys chasing the ball, you know, Bear chasing the ball, guys chasing the ball to be able to get it out. So we want to be a team that attacks the ball, especially in wet conditions. Those are opportunities that you can get it out, and we did that on Saturday.

Q: What is the importance of 12 and 21 personnel?

Lanning: Ultimately, all a combination of both. You try to figure out who you have early in the season, and also, you know what you like, and we happen to like both. You know, we’ve been really good. I think we probably have more 21 personnel sets than any other team in the conference this year, and that goes back to trying to utilize the personnel that we have. Feel really confident about our guys in 12 and really like our guys in 11 too. So, but yeah, certainly some of that played into, you know, when you’re down some people you’re going to, you know, lean into some of those other groups.

Q: How good has Finney Jr. been?

Lanning: Well, one, I’d say any recognition coming his way is well deserved. The guy works extremely hard. I think I’ve said up here several times how he prepares and how he works. It’s not a surprise, you know, to see him go out there and have success, and how he works on his craft and the way he attacks in practice. You know, nobody gets more frustrated with a ball being caught in practice than Brandon does. So, you know, I think he’s just a really clear product of a guy that’s worked really, really hard, has the talent and the ability, he has that. But when you put those things together, you get a really special player.

Q: What changes on such a short week?

Lanning: Yeah, there’s certainly a difference. You know, generally, on Mondays, we’d spend some time watching the previous game. We’d go through and do corrections. We really put the Iowa game to bed, as soon as we landed, you know, graded it, put our notes down as coaches. But moved right on to Minnesota, and then, you know, you lose a practice. So we started today as a Tuesday practice. It’s a little bit adapted and a little bit adjusted just because of time and making sure you’re able to get your players back from a recovery standpoint. So it’s a little bit different. Guys have to be able to do more mentally than just physically, and then you kind of catch back up right around now.

Q: What makes you confident in Atticus Sappington?

Lanning: Yeah, I mean, we have a belief in Atticus, like I said. We try to create moments like that in practice. It’s not the same as a game, but I’m just really happy for a guy who works really hard to be able to go execute in those moments. And, you know, in special teams, we always say it’s one play focus. You don’t get a second down to go make it right, or a third down to go make it right. It’s one play. And he took advantage of his one plays on Saturday and executed for us.

Q: How did you exploit Iowa’s defensive line?

Lanning: Yeah, we, you know, we felt like we had to have a variety of runs, because nobody has been able to run the ball like that, you know, really on Iowa this year. So we thought it was going to take a couple different, you know,  type of runs. And really, a lot of them were successful for us, but our guys inside did a really good job.

Q: How do you make sure you’re playing your best football late in the season?

Lanning: Yeah, you know, I think our process is a little bit different when it comes to handling bye weeks, handling recovery, you know, I’m probably a little more conscientious of that now than I than I have been in the past. And then again, I think you always have to continue to analyze, what are your strengths, what are you doing well at the time? And make sure you lean in on those. As you get later in the season as a coach, a lot of times you feel like, okay, we can carry a lot more volume, because these guys have ran a lot of plays. And that’s not always the reality, too, right? What can you execute at a high level? What takes away the other team’s strengths? So there’s certainly a lot of adaptations that we’ve had since last year. 

Q: What’s it like finding out about injuries right before the game?

Lanning: Yeah, like, you know, obviously Dakorien wasn’t playing, but every time I turned around, he was asking, “what’s the play call?” He’s cheering on his teammates. He’s encouraging them to hold on to the ball. I’m seeing the same thing from you know, Alex Harkey throughout the game. So just seeing those guys involved, they’re there, and they could be spectators, but they didn’t make that choice. They made the choice to be out there and coaching the guys on the field, which was awesome.

Q: What makes Minnesota’s front seven so good?

Lanning: Yeah, they do a great job of getting after the quarterback, right? They pin their ears back, especially when they have opportunities, and do a good job of recognizing they do a good variety of things on defense, right? There’s a lot of change ups, but when they get to, you know, advantageous situations to rush the passer, they take advantage of it. So when it’s third and long they pin their ears back and they go and they win up front, they create one on ones. They do some different things with their front, they play a variety of coverages. But those guys up front have really made it tick for the guys in the back end, and obviously they’ve created some negatives.

Q: How impressive was Malik Benson’s blocking?

Lanning: Yeah, probably the piece that I was most excited to see. And obviously, Malik made some great plays throughout the game, you know, with the catch at the end, but to go in there and field punts when that wasn’t necessarily something you’re tending to do in the rain. I thought was really impressive. But Malik’s been an unbelievable teammate this entire year. He’s been an explosive playmaker for us. He’s done some things really, really well. Thought he blocked well. I mean, yeah, I thought he had a good game. You know, thought he did really well.

Q: What did you like about Brayden Platt’s performance?

Lanning: Yeah, more than anything, I liked what he did in practice. You know, he hadn’t been available, and he came out really firing in practice this past week. He’s gonna be able to help us in special teams. He’s gonna continue to be able to earn a role as a linebacker for us, but he’s running to the ball. He’s playing like his hair is on fire, and he looks fresh.

Q: What do you think about Minnesota’s quarterback?

Lanning: Yeah, it’s impressive, you know, to have a freshman playing at the level he’s playing, and he can make a lot of the throws. You know, I think he’s a true passer, right? He’s got the ability to make those throws. He gives his wideouts an opportunity to make a play down the field, like he’s gonna give him a chance. And ultimately, he’s executed, you know, pretty well in that, I mean, they pass the ball successfully, and a lot of that starts with him. You know, he’s a guy that can go through progression. He’s able to do, you know, things that you would ask a quarterback you don’t necessarily see from a freshman very often. He’s able to do that.

Q: How impressive has Dante Moore been in two-minute drills this year?

Lanning: Yeah, cool, under pressure. You know, I didn’t realize this, but this was Dante’s first opportunity to actually come back from being down in a two minute drive. And he said that to me in his career, right? Not just in this game, but in his career, which I think is pretty awesome for him to have that moment, but he’s cool, calm and collected, executed at a high level.