Lanning, Ducks lean on “strength in numbers” to beat USC

 

EUGENE, Ore. — Dan Lanning kept coming back to the same two ideas: physicality and numbers.

“All right, that was a fun one tonight,” Oregon’s head coach opened after a 42–27 win over No. 15 USC. “Our crowd, again, was unbelievable, great atmosphere there. Really proud that we were able to go do that in that environment with our seniors… Ultimately, I think a lot of it comes down to the physicality that we talked about for us to be able to go out and rush for almost 180 yards and hold them to 52 rushing yards. Gives an indication of how do you win this game, what's it look like?”

In a game billed as a de facto playoff eliminator, Oregon’s response was to overwhelm USC at the line of scrimmage, survive a barrage of explosive passes and lean into the depth they’ve been building all season.

“Yeah, we thought takeaways would be a big piece of this game,” Lanning said. “It was a common denominator in some of the losses that they've had so far this season. We wanted to be able to protect the ball… I thought our ball security was really good today… And then I thought our defense certainly attacked it.”

Run game, trenches, and “if you're good enough, you're old enough”

From the outside, the Ducks looked vulnerable up front. They finished the night with their fourth and fifth offensive tackles on the field and a patchwork rotation inside, yet still mauled USC to the tune of 180 rushing yards and three scores.

“I feel like our offensive line unit is up for the best O-line in the country,” senior running back Noah Whittington said. “Not only that starting five, but as a unit, you know, just because of the standard that they hold for each other, let alone the standard we hold for ourselves as a team and our offense.”

For Whittington, the moving pieces never changed the expectation.

“Like I said, the standard doesn't change no matter who's in the game, whether it's the first string, second string, third string, fourth string,” he said. “I feel like if you're on this team and you have a roster spot as a scholarship player, you can get the job done no matter how old. If you're good enough, you're old enough.”

Tight end Kenyon Sadiq pointed to the work that went in long before USC week.

“That just goes to show the depth that we have at all those positions,” Sadiq said of tackles Fox Crader and Kawika Rogers. “Those guys did a great job all week of preparing like they're starting, even the weeks they weren't starting… when their number called they stepped up and did a great job today and and I'm really happy for them.”

Quarterback Dante Moore, who wasn’t sacked, echoed that trust in a blind-side protector who entered the game with just 33 snaps.

“You know, being a blind side tackle for a quarterback, I mean, you have to put, you know, a lot of trust in that person,” Moore said of Crader. “For Fox, I put a lot of trust into him… every time, you know, he gets beat on a rep, it's like, you know, flash stick. So, next play, you know, build that confidence… Coach Terry is a great person to help lead that room to make sure they're all ready.”

On the other side of the ball, edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei knew the assignment was simple: take away USC’s ground game and make the Trojans one-dimensional.

“Going in looking at the film, you know, we knew it was a big big counter identity team,” he said. “That was one of the main things we focus on, killing killing their run game.”

Linebacker Bryce Boettcher — wearing a star in all three phases — said that priority never changes.

“It's super important. And you know, that's number one must on our defense every week is stopping the run,” Boettcher said. “Cuz if a team can establish a run game, you know, it kind of opens up their whole offense… when you make them one-dimensional, it makes it a little bit easier to stop them on D.”

Takeaways, explosive plays and a defense that bends but doesn’t break

USC still found its shots through the air, but the Ducks slammed the door when it mattered most with two critical takeaways in what was, for three quarters, a 15-point game.

“When you look at like just college football as a whole or football as a whole, like one of the main driving factors to winning is is the turnover battle,” Uiagalelei said. “Getting those turnovers, giving our offense the ball back and not allowing them to get any points, that definitely was a big factor in the win tonight for sure.”

Lanning agreed — and acknowledged the balance between respecting USC’s passing attack and trusting his own.

“Obviously we want to go back and clean up some of the passing attack that they had, their quarterback’s special,” he said. “They have some wideouts that made some big-time plays today, contested catches… We can go improve that and get better in that area. And then just go evaluate it. But proud that we can, like I said, coming in here rushing for 180 yards and then rushing for 52, I think tells a big story.”

Even when flags and big plays stacked up, Lanning liked the temperament.

“What I loved was the temperament of our team, right? Regardless, we knew they were going to throw some punches,” he said. “They hit some big plays on us… But ultimately, nobody ever had a long face. When those moments happened, they were ready for the next play and realizing they could make an impact.”

Malik’s jolt and special teams as a weapon

If there was a single turning point, it came when Malik Benson finally turned weeks of work at punt return into the explosive the staff believed was coming.

“Another great example of a guy being ready for his opportunity,” Lanning said. “We did feel like we were going to have some aggressive opportunities for us on punt return there. He was going to have a chance… it was an awesome play, huge momentum swing in the game for sure.”

For Benson, the return itself was a blur.

“When I seen it get kicked off his foot and it was a low kick and then I seen uh that corner uh kind of kick him out, you know, I inserted and then after that I just blacked out,” he said. “I don't really remember. I just like got in the end zone.”

Once the adrenaline wore off, the significance hit.

“I feel like it was uh very important,” he said. “We haven't really had, you know, an explosive on punt return. So, for us to show that we have that is going to be, you know, another thing teams have to game plan against, so it's going to be, you know, harder for teams to beat us.”

The Ducks already believed they could win in any style; Benson’s play felt like confirmation.

“It's just really, you know, we know we the best offense in the nation,” he said of the way Oregon answered USC’s scoring pushes. “Whether defense gets a stop or not, we got to go out there and execute… No one can stop us.”

Strength in numbers, variety of wins and the playoff picture

Oregon did it again with a shorthanded roster — and Lanning was quick to connect that back to the “strength in numbers” mantra that has followed this team all year.

“You said it,” he told a reporter. “All those moments showed up. And guys always talk about being ready for your opportunity, not waiting for your opportunity… we got a bunch of guys that want to go out there and battle for the man next to them. And they take a lot of pride in what they do.”

Linebacker Boettcher said he could see this coming as far back as August.

“I’d say I do in fall camp,” he said, when asked when he knew they could truly roll 60-plus players in a game of this magnitude. “You know, you mix it around and the drop off is there's not much… our depth is insane, strength in numbers is incredible… there's a lot of selflessness on this team and, you know, that's what makes teams great, especially in this era of football.”

Lanning sees this win as another data point for a team that has proven it can win in almost any setting.

“Yeah, this is an example that we can beat you in multiple ways, right?” he said. “We can outscore you at times, right? We can hold you to an 18-16 type game. We can win in tough environments, any weather. Put the ball down, let's go play football.”

And if the playoff committee is wondering?

“Well, we just played a really good team. We beat them,” Lanning said. “We didn't play Chattanooga State today, right? Like some other places, right? We competed… All we're worried about is playing the teams that we play and doing the job that we need to do. And we did that job today.”