Oregon HC Has Blunt Reaction to Blowout Loss to Ohio State Buckeyes

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning had a blunt reaction to being blown out by the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks to the clock towards the end of the first half as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coming into the Rose Bowl matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks, everyone was expecting to see a close game. Both teams matched up very well and they were viewed by most as the top two teams in the country.

However, what ended up happening was far from a close and hard-fought game.

When all was said and done, Ohio State ended up winning by a final score of 41-21. From the very first drive of the game, it was clear that the Buckeyes had come into the game looking to make a statement.

Not only did they make a statement, they completely embarrassed Oregon.

Following the brutal loss, the Ducks' head coach, Dan Lanning, spoke out with a blunt response.

“I thought our guys prepared well going in. Obviously, they had a better plan than us,” said Lanning. “But that’s an excuse. That’s an opportunity that we had to recharge. I thought our guys did practice well. I’d tell you if that wasn’t the case. I thought they had a great focus. I just don’t think our plan was good enough. I think they had a great plan to attack us. So credit to those guys.”

Lanning continued forward, providing more of his thoughts about the blown game from Oregon.

“We had an opportunity. We didn’t take advantage of the opportunity,” Lanning said. “I’m not going to make excuses for our opportunity. And ultimately you have to be great teams to beat teams at the end of the year we didn’t do that. This is the road we had to travel. And they did it better than us tonight. No complaints for us for having that opportunity. They just took advantage of it and we didn’t.”

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes came in with a perfect game plan and they executed it. The offense moved the ball at will under the play-calling leadership of Chip Kelly and the defense made things difficult on Oregon all game long.

This is the same kind of dominant game plan and execution that helped Ohio State blow out the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the playoff.

If the Buckeyes can sustain this level of play, they have a very good chance of winning a national championship. This is how they are capable of playing with all of the talent on their roster.

Hopefully, on January 10 against the Texas Longhorns, they will come out with the same fire and intensity that they played with against the Ducks.