Dan Lanning Gives Final Updates Ahead of No. 10 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes

The Ducks play their second home game in as many weeks against a surging Colorado Buffaloes team led by Deion Sanders.

Max Torres | Sep 20, 2023

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Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning met with reporters in Eugene following Wednesday's practice ahead of this weekend's game against the No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes (3-0, 0-0).

Below you'll find the full press conference video from Wednesday afternoon as well as some of his top quotes.

Opening statement: "Good Wednesday practice. Red area, third-down day as usual. Got some good focus. Certainly a lot to clean up but our guys are amped and ready to go."

Question: It looks like (Alton) McCaskill is gonna be cleared to play. What does he bring to the table and the challenges it presents, a new guy at that position?

Lanning: "For the fun game standpoint, he's a guy that's been able to run the ball really well, had a lot of success for his team in the past. I think he's a hard runner, kind of runs like Derrick Henry. That'll be a great challenge for us, so we certainly have to be ready for him if he's out there."

Question: How big is this weekend for you from a recruiting standpoint?

Lanning: "Yeah. We'll have a lot of people here. I know our crowd's gonna be amazing but we're gonna have a ton of great people who can help us in the future that we need to make an impact on."

Question: How have the last few days gone in terms of cleaning up the penalty stuff that you guys talked about?

Lanning: "We'll see on Saturday. We'll see on Saturday."

Question: "How pleased are you with the speed of your defense through three games?

Lanning: "Pleased but anxious for more growth. Certainly anxious for more growth and I think we're getting there closer and closer each week."

Question: With what he did this offseason how pleased are you with Bryce Boettcher's play through the first three weeks?

Lanning: "Yeah I love Bryce. He's earned every opportunity he's gotten. Nothing's been handed to that guy. He had a long track to go to get his way to where he was on the field and he's earned that. He's done a great job."

Question: Your thoughts on the thermo-reactive cleats that the players will be wearing this week?

Lanning: "They look cool. They look really cool. I think that's a great representation of what it's like to be at Oregon and be connected with a place like Nike and how much they do for us and how they make an impact on our program, cause those are pretty neat. What I love about it is when these guys are wearing them at practice I can tell if they're practicing hard. If their cleats aren't turning colors then we got a problem. Better than the GPS sometimes."

Published Sep 20, 2023

MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.