After Oregon’s win over James Madison, head coach Dan Lanning didn’t sugarcoat things. Yes, the Ducks got the victory-but if you listened to Lanning’s postgame comments, you’d think they had left something crucial on the field. And in his eyes, they did.
Lanning was quick to frame the game not as a celebration, but as a teaching moment. “This is a growth moment for us,” he said, emphasizing that while the scoreboard showed a win, the performance didn’t meet the program’s standard. And if Oregon wants to hit its bigger goals this season, they’ll need to clean things up-fast.
The Ducks came out strong in the first half, asserting their dominance early and building a cushion that looked like it might turn into a blowout. But the second half was a different story.
Oregon couldn’t maintain that same rhythm, and Lanning didn’t hide his frustration. “To not be able to come out and have the same success in the second half that we had in the first half is certainly disappointing,” he said.
That drop-off in performance is what stuck with him-not the final score.
A big part of the issue? Special teams.
Oregon gave up a blocked kick and a blocked punt-two costly mistakes that let James Madison hang around longer than they should have. Those miscues didn’t just swing momentum-they exposed a vulnerability that Lanning knows opponents will look to exploit down the stretch.
Execution, not scheme, was the buzzword in the locker room. Lanning made it clear that the problem wasn’t about drawing up better plays-it was about staying locked in and finishing the job. “We have to play better football to be able to reach our goals when it’s all said and done,” he said.
For a team with championship aspirations, this wasn’t just a wake-up call-it was a clear message from the head coach: the margin for error is shrinking. The Ducks may have left the field with a win, but Lanning’s focus is already on the next challenge-and making sure his team doesn’t repeat the same mistakes when the stakes are even higher.