Nick Saban Asks Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning About 'Rat Poison' Ahead Of College Football Playoff

After winning the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Penn State, the No. 1 Oregon Ducks secured the first 13-0 start in program history and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff and a berth in the Rose Bowl Game. Nick Saban asked coach Dan Lanning about Oregon's CFP path and the "rat poison" of being the only undefeated team left in college football.

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning and former Alabama coach nick Saban / Imagn

After winning the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Penn State, the No. 1 Oregon Ducks secured the first 13-0 start in program history and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff and a berth in the Rose Bowl Game.

Now the Big Ten champion Ducks will await the winner of No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Tennessee in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day in Pasadena.

Oregon and coach Dan Lanning will have 24 days between the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl, an interesting challenge for the undefeated Ducks.

Oregon Ducks linebacker Devon Jackson (26) makes a confetti angel on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, after the Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Oregon Ducks defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions, 45-37. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lanning joined the College Football Playoff Selection show to talk about the 12-team playoff. The Ducks' path through the bracket is more tumultuous than others' path due to a looming rematch with Ohio State and then possibly No. 5 Texas Longhorns. What does Lanning think about the tough bracket for Oregon?

"An opportunity, right?" Lanning said on Sunday morning. "In our world, we always talk about red light, green light. Focus on the things you can control, right? That's what we're gonna focus on. And winning a national championship isn't supposed to be easy. You can ask coach Nick Saban. It's not supposed to be easy. So if our path's a little bit tougher, kudos to us if we go through it and take care of business."

Legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban, a member of the selection show had two questions for Lanning. How will Lanning deal with the "rat poison" (aka media attention) of being the only undefeated team left in college football? What is Oregon's practice plan for the next few weeks while the Ducks don't know their opponent in the Rose Bowl?

"I'm not worried about the rat poisoning because I was at the game last night," Lanning responded to Saban. "And I know how much better we can get. We didn't play our best game, but we had each other's back... At some point in the season, the defense is gonna have the offense's back. We've had that this year. At some point in the season, the offense has to have the defensive back. We had that last night."

Dec 7, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks celebrate defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten Championship in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

As far as adjusting practice schedule for the Ducks, Lanning feels

"I think we have to look ahead and find issues through common opponents that could be potential issues for us down the road," Lanning said. "So, we're gonna have to look at more than just one team as we prepare and then have some periods within those practices where it focuses more on
overall scheme within those issues - Whether that's quarterback runs or empty packages or unbalanced and blitz packages that we might see from different groups of opponents down the stretch. And then spend a lot of time just focusing on our improvement."

The Ducks are 35-5 under coach Dan Lanning since the start of 2022 and have improved each year with 10 wins in 2022, 12 wins in 2023 and now an FBS-best 13 wins in 2024. Oregon has won 14 consecutive games after closing the 2023 season with a win in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, owning the nation’s longest active winning streak.

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