Oregon Ducks College Football Pregame Quote, 12/03/2023

SCOTT LEIGHTMAN: Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Scott Leightman, Vice President of Communications for the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. We’re truly excited about this matchup and welcoming Oregon back for the fourth time in Fiesta Bowl history, second time in four years. An impressive season under the head coach who we have here first, Head Coach Dan Lanning, consecutive 10-win seasons in his first two seasons as coach.

This year, the Ducks were 11-2, and had one of the nation’s best offenses, ranking second nationally in passing offense, total offense and scoring. They had only seven turnovers, so a testament to the team that they have. And on defense, don’t sleep on the Ducks either. They are one of only three teams to allow 10 or fewer points in at least six games this season.

I’m going to introduce the second-year head coach of the Oregon Ducks, Coach Dan Lanning. Take it away, Coach.

COACH LANNING: Thrilled to be here. Just got done meeting with our players not too long ago. Our guys are thrilled and excited about the opportunity. One of the best things about bowl games is the opportunity to go finish this season with a highlight. And our guys are really pumped about this game in particular, to have the opportunity to play such a formidable opponent.

Coach [Jamey] Chadwell has been done an unbelievable job there at Liberty, playing this season and finishing with an undefeated season.

Our guys, we just finished our game last Friday and didn’t finish quite the way we wanted. So getting an opportunity to play in a game like this is exactly what our guys are wanting to do and excited to do. To get to do it in a venue like the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is really important.

Q. You just referenced it with Liberty being one of the few unbeatens. What else do you know about their team, and what are you excited about in terms of this matchup?

COACH LANNING: Yeah, not enough. We found out when you guys found out, watching ESPN. But they are a team I’ve been able to watch from afar and have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach [Jamey] Chadwell and the job that he’s done and everywhere he’s been. He’s obviously been a consistent winner for a long time.

But this team’s playing — it seems like they’re operating on all cylinders. To go unbeaten in college football is extremely tough. We know they have a dynamic quarterback (Kaidon Salter) and an elite offense that creates some issues, because you have to prepare for them in a different way.

Excited about this opportunity to go play. Excited to go out on the field with our players one more time to cap off this 2023 season.

Q. Bo [Nix] left things kind of open-ended after the game on Friday. Has he given you any indication — or anybody else, whether it be Bucky [Irving] or Troy [Franklin], Jordan Burch or Khyree [Jackson] — about opting out of this game just yet?

COACH LANNING: Yeah, we’ve gotten some clarity this morning. I think some of those guys it’s probably fair for me to let them have the opportunity to let you guys know they want to go play. But I can say definitively that Bo Nix wants to go play in this game. He told his teammates the same thing.

This morning we met as a team. I think he wants that opportunity to go out on the field one more time. There are several other guys that have made that same decision.

As we go, we’ll continue to get more clarity of what that looks like. These guys are excited to go play his game. Our entire team is excited to go out there one last time and cap off an elite season for us.

Q. Just wondering what the next few weeks look like for you guys schedule-wise. When do you guys plan to get back to Eugene and resume practice?

COACH LANNING: December is a crazy month for coaches and players alike. Our guys are wrapping up finals here. In this week of December, us as coaches, we’ll be on the road. Several of us are already on the road right now as we speak. They left today. I’ll be traveling out to go do some recruiting throughout this next week. We also have some other things to celebrate about some of the successes we’ve had this season.

As we get into kind of second week of December, we’ll start to ramp up some practice opportunities. You try to squeeze as many of them as you can around all the things that exist in December, whether that’s signing day — all the other pieces that exist in college football right now.

But we’ll get as many practices in as we can. Make sure our guys get an opportunity to celebrate a little bit of time with their families right around the Christmas holiday, and then get back there for our game, the Fiesta Bowl.

Q. Also with the portal opening tomorrow, we’ve seen Ashton’s [Cozart] announcement, but it’s that time of year. That happened obviously last year as well. Who are you expecting, if anybody, to be outgoing in the next couple of days?

COACH LANNING: There will certainly be some announcements. I think that’s going to exist on every single team. I’ve talked to those guys individually.

On the same note, that’s their opportunity to be able to announce that. So I think you’ll see some guys that aren’t with us anymore. And they’ve been phenomenal here for the Ducks, and wishing them nothing but the best. But out of respect for them, I’m going to give them the opportunity to make that announcement.

Q. What does it say about Bo [Nix] that he wants to finish the season? What does it say about the other guys that we’ll find out down the road, that they want to play in this game? What does it say about the DNA traits that you reference all the time?

COACH LANNING: The character of him, the ultimate competitor. I think visiting with Bo this morning, we were kind of just reminiscing about this season. Don’t get a lot of opportunities to do that. We got a little bit of an opportunity to do that this morning, as you kind of wait to figure out what’s next.

But I think it speaks to his character, what he thinks of this team, what he feels like he owes the players on this team around him. And he certainly doesn’t owe anybody anything. And for him to go out there and to go play, I don’t think it was really ever a question for him. It’s just a matter of, those are things to assess after the situation. I think he took his time to do that, evaluated what he wanted to do moving forward.

And I think any of our players — it’s not always seen in college football as advantageous for players to go get to play. But you’ve got to remember, you want guys on your team that love to play for the love of the game, and Bo Nix is one of those guys.

Q. Under the assumption that some of the players might not be playing in the bowl game, just what is your message going to be to some of those younger guys that are going to get a chance to kind of prove what they have to show in this bowl game?

COACH LANNING: The great thing about bowl prep is the amount of practices that you get in preparation for a game. And I’ve always felt like one of the best things about playing in bowl games is how you get to continue to develop your team and grow your team. And we’re going to get an opportunity to have 12, 13, 14 more practices, more meetings and opportunities around our young players to continue to advance and grow within the program. And certainly, that’s going to lead to some opportunities for some of those guys on the field as well.

As far as who’s available, not available, that’s something we’ll have to continue to assess. The other benefit of this window is just getting guys healthy that are not healthy at this point in the season, getting some guys back that are ready to roll. That will be a benefit as well.

But there’s going to be opportunities for some young players to go make an impact. I’m excited to see what those guys do.

Q. Regarding Liberty and the type of offense that Coach [Jamey] Chadwell runs with that kind of RPO situation, I’m curious if you can compare what they do to anybody you guys have faced in the last year, two years, that sort of thing? And how have you prepared for those kind of offenses in the past?

COACH LANNING: Yeah, I really can’t yet because I haven’t had a chance to really watch them yet. But that will be something when you’re making all these plane flights and traveling around the country that you’re going to take the time to do.

Just look at the box score and you can tell they score a lot of points. I know, again, they have a great quarterback (Salter). And really, everywhere Coach Chadwell has been, they’ve had a lot of success.

It’s something we’re going to have to figure out, something we’re going to have to process and figure out what’s the best way to attack them and try to stop that attack.

Q. Coach, you kind of referenced the quick turnaround here in terms of just recently losing that game. Are there any moments that stand out in terms of how this team has handled the adversity of losing on Friday? Any anecdotes you’re comfortable sharing?

COACH LANNING: Nothing more than the fact that our guys have seen adversity before and they’ve experienced loss before and they’ve always responded. They’ve always put their best foot forward and worked really, really hard. I’m anticipating nothing different from our guys moving forward.

Q. How do you handle bowl prep practices? Do you focus a week just preparing for Liberty? And the previous practice just developing your players and not really worrying about the opponent? How do you handle that bowl prep?

COACH LANNING: I think you have to start with you, right? Where are the places that you can improve and grow? And fundamental technique is something that always, when you watch bowl games, you see it show up more and more. That’s the part that maybe gets lost.

This game isn’t going to be about schemes. Certainly, there will be some trick-play opportunities here and there. There will be some different stuff you haven’t seen or haven’t prepared for that will show up. But it’s really about putting your guys in position to be able to go out there on the field and tackle and block and break tackles and be conditioned the way you need to be conditioned in a bowl game to perform your best.

Q. You touched on the week ahead and how chaotic it will be for both you and Bo [Nix]. If you can just expand on that a bit. Will you be going on Tuesday for LaMichael [James] Hall of Fame induction? I know Bo is up for a finalist in Vegas as well. I know he’s going to Tuscaloosa Wednesday, and presumably to New York thereafter. I assume you’re following him. Is that all the stops? Do I have all the boxes along the recruiting trips for you? What is the week ahead?

COACH LANNING: You’ve got them all. Yeah, you’ve got all the boxes. I don’t know that I’ll be able to make it to every single event, but I’m certainly hopeful to be at all the events I can be at. Certainly be there Tuesday to support LaMichael and Bo there, and then this weekend as well. And then a lot of flights and travel between here and there for recruiting and everything else that exists.

Q. With the fact that Bo [Nix] plans to play in this year’s bowl game, just how confident are you now that your main leader of this team is leading your team into a bowl game? And, hopefully, that will also impact others’ decision to also play in the bowl game as well.

COACH LANNING: I think everybody has to make the best decision for them. And that’s something I encourage our players to do. But I have a lot of confidence in this team and a lot of confidence in the way that they’ve worked all season. And I know how these guys operate and how they want to finish.

I’m certainly excited for Bo and his opportunity. I think it means a lot to him to get to wear that Oregon uniform one last time. He’s meant the world to this place. And I think this place has meant the world to him.

But I think there’s a lot of players on our team that have that same feeling. And the opportunity for our seniors to go play in a game like this against Liberty is something that’s pretty exciting for them.

Q. Congratulations on making it to the Fiesta Bowl. Talk about Bo Nix playing in his last game. Talk about the other quarterbacks you have and what does this 15 practices mean for them.

COACH LANNING: Yeah, huge. It’s a great question. We’ve got some talented young guys on this roster that I’m excited to see, whether that be Ty [Thompson] or Austin [Novosad] or just all of these guys, Brock [Thomas], within our program.

This season has been big for development, but it’s almost like having spring ball again right here in December. So it’s an opportunity for us to get a lot of work with a lot of guys in a short window of time. But on the same note, a big window in comparison to what you get in the rest of the season.

Q. There was a little bit of pushback this morning from some Ducks fans about the opponent that you’ll play. We all know it’s so difficult to go 13-0 in any level of football. But I want to give you the chance to talk to those fans about how important this game is, not just to you and your players, but to the program in general.

COACH LANNING: Yeah, well, there’s zero pushback in our building because we know exactly how talented Liberty is and what they’re capable of. To go undefeated in a season, I think speaks volumes.

More than anything, the opportunity for our players to go out there on the field one more time and have a great experience. To go perform, put our best foot forward. We talk about playing our best ball towards the end of the season, this is your opportunity to do that.

To get to do it against a team that’s gone through the season unblemished, I think, is really special. I’m thrilled for our guys to get to go step on the field against the team that we get to play and prepare and put our best foot forward.

Last year, you look at a game similar to this, Tulane was able to go upset a team in USC when they got their opportunity to go play in this game. So we know exactly what Liberty is capable of. I’m excited to dive in on the film. I know exactly what Coach [Jamey] Chadwell is capable of and his performance, I think, and his record speaks for itself.

It’s an exciting opportunity for us and an exciting opportunity for everybody who supports Oregon and everybody that supports Liberty and people that are college football fans. That’s what makes college football so great, is bowl season and games like this.

SCOTT LEIGHTMAN: Coach Lanning, thank you for your time. Good luck in recruiting. We look forward to seeing you here on January 1st, kickoff 11:00 a.m. local time, 10:00 a.m. Oregon time. What a way to start off the new year, and I know you’ll have your team ready.

COACH LANNING: Thank you, Scott. Appreciate it.