It’s a custom of the college football season for head coaches across the nation to meet with the media towards the beginning of the week and discuss the prior week’s matchup and preview their upcoming test. Fans are often privy to the quotes coming out of their own team’s HQ, but what about their upcoming opponents’?
Let’s take a look at some of the quotes that Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had to say that referenced Indiana specifically in his Monday press conference.
Q: Opening statement
Unbelievable opportunity sitting in front of us here with a top 10 matchup versus a really good team. You watch these guys on tape. They do a lot of things. Well, I think the first thing just stands out to us when you look at special teams and how dominant they’ve been in special teams and blocking kicks is what they do, and then how they play to their players strengths, quarterbacks playing as good as anybody. Obviously, they’re extremely well coached on both sides of the ball.
They create a lot of havoc on defense, and ultimately, that’s where we’re counting our fans to be part of what makes this environment Great. Exciting weekend in Eugene. A lot of people come to town to watch this game, because it’s a premier game between two really good teams, counting on our fans to have a big impact on that game.
Q: How much time have you’ve ever had a chance to be with Curt and obviously just know of his influence and his influence and his time there through your position specifically (at Alabama)?
I haven’t, outside of us being around each other, Big Ten meetings, obviously, everywhere he’s been, he’s had a lot of success. This team is really well coached. I think the one that you know, the other piece that really sticks out about their staff, you look at their staff, a lot of those guys have been together for a long time, like a lot of continuity. And that speaks to guys that my coach with him, he’s won everywhere. He’s been, right? That’s, that’s really apparent, but he’s obviously a phenomenal coach, and has done a really good job.
Q: Just your impressions and thoughts of their offense. I know it’s real balanced, and you know, what do you do to try to combat that balance?
The first thing that sticks out is, like, this is a team that has a clear identity. You know, they know what they’re good at, and they do it really, really well. They run the ball well. And, you know, they obviously have RPO tags off a lot of the runs that they make sure they’re running it, they’re running into an advantageous look when they’re throwing it. They’re throwing it into a good look. They do a really good job of that, you know.
So that’s the thing that stands out. They’re, they’re rushing as well as anybody in the country, and then throwing as well as anybody in the country. And they have a lot of weapons they can use.
Q: I think Fernando (Mendoza) is like 40 of 43 in two consecutive games. What allows them to be that accurate, that dialed in, consistent?
Yeah, their timing is really impressive. You know, they know where guys are going to be at. They do a really good job of shaping the routes. He’s got great delivery. He’s able to throw the ball extremely well, but he’s throwing it. He knows where his White House going to be. He knows what coverage he’s thrown into, you know, see, that’s a that’s an indicator of a really well coached player that knows his system extremely well.
Q: You guys faced (Mendoza) back when he was at Cal in 2023 just how has he progressed from then until now?
I think he’s surrounded by some really talented players, and I think again, has a really clear understanding of scheme this offense, when you watch it, it has an identity. They you know you’re going to see the same play ran a couple times. The window dressing might be different, but they know how to run this play.
It’s not about inventing new offense. It’s about writing it better than you and execute it better than you. And they do a really good job of that. And then they do enough of that to where you think, Okay, this is what it’s going to be. And then they throw a wrinkle in there, and it is different. So he’s playing in an offense that clearly has an identity. He’s playing around really good players
Q: Indiana is probably the best receiving group that you’ve gone up against so far this year. What have you seen from (Cooper) and Sarratt specifically on tape?
They’re strong at the point of attack. They go and catch the ball. If they’re not catching the ball, they’re creating pass interference calls because of the way they attack the ball. They’ve got good speed, and they can run all the routes in the route tree.
Q: What’s enabled (Indiana) to cause so much havoc on defense, particularly in TFLs and sacks?
I mean, it’s a multitude of looks. They’re aggressive by nature, right? They do a good job of eliminating explosive plays, but they run a lot of simulated pressures and fire zone pressures. They create havoc up front. Paths change quite a bit with the D line, a lot of different stunts that they use, and the guys win at the point of attack when they do Blitz, so they do a good job of that.