Oregon's Dan Lanning believes pieces are 'coming together' for Wisconsin

Lanning was very complimentary of Luke Fickell ahead of this week's matchup.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning yells on the sideline as the Oregon Ducks host the Maryland Terrapins at Autzen Stadium Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin welcomes No. 1-ranked Oregon to Camp Randall Stadium this week for a primetime Big Ten showdown. Ducks head coach Dan Lanning is one of the most well-respected names in the coaching world, and he was very complimentary of what Luke Fickell is building in Madison.

"I think coach Fickell's a great coach. Actually had to play against him when I was at Georgia, and he was at Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl, and he had a really, really good team there." Lanning told the media on Monday. "I think he's proven that he can develop teams. We came down to a field goal barely to be able to win it, and it speaks just to the kind of culture he can create. And you see pieces of that coming together for him now at Wisconsin. I think he's doing a good job."

Lanning was the defensive coordinator at Georgia from 2019-21 and faced Fickell's Cincinnati squad in the 2021 Peach Bowl. The Bearcats gave the Bulldogs all they could handle with a narrow 24-21 game. Fickell and Lanning are separated in age by nearly 13 years, but it is clear in 2021 that both were among the fastest risers in the college coaching world.

Fast forward to this week, Lanning and the Ducks come to Madison favored to win by more than two touchdowns as the consensus No. 1 team in the country. Fickell is still looking for his marquee win as head coach at Wisconsin and this week will give him an opportunity to do that.

Oregon's victory over Ohio State has been its only game decided by fewer than 21 points since the first two weeks of the season. The pieces look to be coming together for the Ducks, while Wisconsin is carrying a two-game losing streak into the matchup. The Ducks have not even sniffed a close game in more than a month, so Fickell will need his Badgers to play an A+ game if they want any chance of knocking off the No. 1 team in the country.