Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning Joins Big Noon Kickoff To Evaluate Ohio State Matchup
While many Oregon Ducks fans were dreaming about the 31-10 win over Michigan State, Oregon coach Dan Lanning was already back to work at 7:20 a.m. PT with an appearance on FOX's Big Noon Kickoff.
The pregame show is on the East Coast for UCLA's roadtrip to Penn State. Lanning made his appearance virtually, from the comfort of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.
On the show, Lanning spoke with host Rob Stone and coach Urban Meyer about the Michigan State game as well as the Ohio State game.
How have the Ducks improved on the offensive and defensive lines from Week 1?
LANNING: "Constant growth. Actually go back to what coach Meyer said to our team when he came out this summer. He talked about the most physical team always wins. So we try to practice physical, and I think we've had some consistent improvement in that area over the last couple of weeks."
On Dillon Gabriel heading into the Ohio State matchup:
LANNING: "It's going to be a fun experience for Dillon. He's continuing to get better and better each week. He had a couple of errors that we can't have, and he knows that, this past game. But that's what growth is about. That's about figuring out what you can improve on, and certainly this stage next week's going to be a big one. It won't require anything special from him, just a standard performance and we'll be able to go out there and execute at a high level."
How's the team feeling for Ohio State now that the game has finally arrived?
LANNING: "It's an exciting game, certainly for our fans and certainly for the University of Oregon. To get to compete against Ohio State is going to be a really special one. But I always talk about playing the game not the occasion. There's going to be a lot of fanfare around this game. It's really going to be about the game itself."
What is Lanning doing with the rest of his Saturday morning?
LANNING: "I'm going back to watch some film. Let's go get a leg up. Go and put the game to bed really, from last night so we can focus on the Ohio State game moving forward."
The Oregon coach's interview on the Saturday morning show was relatively brief. As the week ramps up before the Buckeyes game, Lanning is sure to make more appearances.
The Ducks and the Buckeyes will kickoff at 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC. The top-ten matchup is expected to draw ESPN's College GameDay to Eugene, placing an even larger spotlight on the game.
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