After his team pulled away from USC and he spent the next few days rubbing it in during every interview, Oregon coach Dan Lanning shifted into praise mode Wednesday.
The subject of his adoration — the Trojans’ archrival.
“We’re about to play a UCLA team that reminds me a lot of Indiana from last year,” Lanning told reporters at his weekly media availability.
Whoa. That’s some comparison.
Indiana won the national championship last year, having reached the pinnacle of college football in only its second season under coach Curt Cignetti.
Lanning drew the parallel in part because new UCLA coach Bob Chesney also imported a big chunk of his staff and 11 transfers from James Madison, which also happened to be Cignetti’s previous stop before winning big with the Hoosiers.
“Extremely well-coached team, you’ve got two coordinators that were with him before,” Lanning said of Chesney and coordinators Dean Kennedy and Colin Hitschler, whose No. 23 Bruins (4-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) will face the No. 15 Ducks (3-1, 1-0) on Oct. 10 at Autzen Stadium after a bye week for both teams. “So they’ve been together for a while; they have a lot of continuity from that standpoint.
“They’re running the ball as well as anybody in college football, they create explosive plays, they’ve got good quarterback play and then their defense, they’re aggressive, they attack, they’ve got a lot of different looks, but they certainly present some challenges.”
One topic that Lanning no longer wanted to address was USC.
Asked if Trojans linebacker Desman Stephens II had reached out to Dante Moore after delivering a hit that knocked the Oregon quarterback out of the game with a concussion, Lanning let reporters know that he was no longer going to engage.
“I’m done talking about this game, guys,” Lanning said of the Ducks’ 41-27 triumph at the Coliseum. “Let’s move to the next — I appreciate all the questions about this, but that game’s over with.”
Lanning did not provide an update on Moore beyond saying that he remained in concussion protocol. If the quarterback who spent the 2023 season with the Bruins is unable to play against his former team, the Ducks will once again turn to backup Dylan Raiola, who stepped in heroically against the Trojans.
UCLA’s game against Oregon will be a rematch of sorts considering Chesney, a large chunk of his staff and their James Madison transfers faced the Ducks last December in the College Football Playoff. The Dukes played admirably, outscoring Oregon during the second half of a 51-34 loss.
Those Dukes may not be as good as these Bruins, providing Lanning with more worries over the next week and a half. UCLA running back Wayne Knight has scored nine rushing touchdowns as part of a ground game that’s among the nation’s best.
“They’ve got some players that can play ball,” Lanning said. “I mean, their running back is as good as anyone we’ll go against this year.”
