Oklahoma State’s matchup with Oregon carries a little extra texture because Eric Morris and Dan Lanning have already spent one wild afternoon on opposite sidelines.
Their only previous meeting came in 2022, when Lanning was in his first season at Oregon and Morris was the offensive coordinator at Washington State. That one turned into a shootout right away: Oregon won 44-41 in the Pac-12 opener for both teams, a game that showed just how dangerous both coaches can be when their side of the ball gets rolling.
Saturday’s game in Stillwater, set for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN, will be the first time they meet as head coaches, but not the first time they’ve had to think through each other’s tendencies.
Lanning comes from the defensive side. Morris built his reputation on offense.
That contrast was part of what made their last matchup so memorable, and it’s why the conversation around this one keeps circling back to Pullman, Wash.
Morris had already been around the conference once before as a wide receivers coach at Washington State about a decade earlier, so he knew the Pac-12 landscape. He also brought along a familiar quarterback from his Incarnate Word days, Cam Ward, who would later transfer to Miami and become the Tennessee Titans’ first-round pick in 2025.
Lanning pointed to that 2022 game as a useful reference point for what Morris likes to do on offense.
"I think we were down 12 points in that game, and Cam Ward was playing for him at that point,” Lanning said. “But he does a lot of stuff that's disruptive on offense.
That's tough. He can create explosive plays.
They thrive off them. They throw the ball extremely well.”
Ward lit up the Ducks that day, throwing for 375 yards and two touchdowns while also tossing two interceptions. Bo Nix answered for Oregon with 428 passing yards and three touchdowns. Washington State had built a pair of 12-point leads, including a 34-22 edge with 6:42 left in the fourth quarter, before Oregon finished the game with 21 straight points.
One of the biggest swings came on Mase Funa’s interception return for a touchdown, a play Morris still remembers because it helped turn the game for Oregon.
For Morris, the lesson from that afternoon is less about the final score and more about what Oregon has looked like under Lanning. He knows what it means to go against a coach who brings the same kind of credibility on defense that Morris has on offense. Lanning, now 49-8 in his fifth year at Oregon, has never won fewer than 10 games, a standard Morris clearly respects.
“They’ve done a phenomenal job of building that thing,” he said. “I think this is year five for Dan, and they’ve done a phenomenal job of putting pieces around him.”
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