Everything Dan Lanning said after Oregon's win against Washington

Everything Dan Lanning said after Oregon's win against WashingtonStory byPaul White, Ducks WireSun, November 30, 2025 at 1:52 AM UTC·11 min read

The Oregon Ducks were in control of their own destiny heading into this week and they didn’t let it slip away. They traveled to play the Washington Huskies today, and while the game never felt truly in-hand until the late in the fourth quarter, the Ducks ultimately stuck to their guns and got the job done when the game mattered most.

It doesn’t matter what the final score is, Dan Lanning is never satisfied, and that will likely be the same tune today as the regular season final comes to a close. His team has much bigger fish to fry now and he knows they can’t afford to continue making the mistakes that have bitten them all season long.

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The Ducks don’t know who their opponent will be yet in the College Football Playoff, but they’ll need to be much sharper if they plan on having a repeat of last year. Let’s check what Lanning had to say about this game against the Huskies and the impending playoff game.

Opening Statement

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks the sideline as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

Lanning: All right, those locker rooms are fun.

Competitive game. Credit to Washington, they didn't make it easy. This environment is really good. Thought our players handled the chaos extremely well. You know, don't think the noise affected us. And you know, even heard our fans chanting there at the end, which is awesome to be able to come into somebody else's stadium and create that. When we talked about this game was gonna come down to takeaways, you know, I thought that was obviously a big piece of this game. Being able to take away the ball away twice, and being able to own the ball on offense. You know, our kicker obviously played outstanding, four kicks, you know, in a tough place to kick. You know, he's been really solid for us down the stretch, but several players coming up making big plays, you know, and I know at the very end you get asked, why not kick the field goal? Kind of tough angle for the field goal kicker, that tight and ultimately, fourth-and-one you want that opportunity to go get it. But I thought our guys handled the environment extremely well. They did a good job eliminating our run game, which is something that showed up, that we got to be able to run it in tough situations. I thought Washington was outstanding there, so we'll have to make sure we can sure that up. But defensively, we played well. You know, offensive we made some big plays down the stretch. Obviously, that pass to Benson was huge, and altogether, the sideline was incredible. The focus that these guys had, just a really fun group. And the great part is, we're not done playing yet. So excited for that next opportunity.

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Historic Win

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, right, walks the field during warmups as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

Q: What does this win feel like?

Lanning: I told the players before the game. I said, history is great, but what's more fun is writing history, right? We got to write some history today, which is awesome. And they showed up. Everybody had each other's back. Certainly, this is a big game. It's big rivalry, one of the best that I've been a part of. So it was fun to go out there and take care of business today.

Changed the Game

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 29: Raiden Vines-Bright #7 of the Washington Huskies is called for pass interference against Malik Benson #4 of the Oregon Ducks during the first half at Husky Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Q: Can you speak about Malik Benson and how important his touchdown was?

Lanning: I don't know where Malik finished. I mean, I don't know how many balls he caught, you guys can probably tell me. I know he had like a hitch on the sideline. I mean, that play was as impressive as any. And just the composure, man even saw the ball security there. You know, for him, having that ball up and tight is a coaching moment. Just all the coaching moments that showed up. You know, obviously we had a couple of aggressive penalties there. Disappointed and lost our composure. I didn't think you'd see that from our team today. One of them was an aggressive block that went a little long, right? One of them is one that we just absolutely can't do, which is disappointing, but overall, really proud of Malik, man. What an unbelievable teammate he's been for us this year. What a great throw by Dante. You know, great protection there. Our guys handled it really well. Our coaches prepared him well.

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Dynamic Dante

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore celebrates a touchdown as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

Q: Did your staff plan for Dante Moore to use his legs as much as he did?

Lanning: Yeah, initially, I mean, we had some of that in the plan, but it became something more that we had to do. They did a good job closing the middle of the field. And ultimately, when they're playing with 10, you got to figure out a way to play with 11, and they had loaded boxes. They did a good job stopping a run. That’ll be something I'm anxious to watch, to see what their answers were, but you know that we got a tough quarterback, man, he was able to go out there and get the tough yards when it mattered.

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Poker Face

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks off after his win as the Oregon Ducks host the USC Trojans on Nov. 22, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

Q: Was there a concerted effort to keep emotions in check this week?

Lanning: It’s not a lack of emotion. It's about controlling emotions, right? And, you know, all week, I thought our guys were focused on controlling their emotions so they could execute at the highest level. And I think they did that today.

Remember the Name

Nov 8, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Oregon Ducks kicker Atticus Sappington (36) kicks a field goal as punter James Ferguson-Reynolds (46) holds during the second quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Q: How big was Atticus Sappington today?

Lanning: I mean, he just did a great job. We've seen him hit them in practice, right? That was right on the edge of where we felt comfortable giving it a shot. Any time you can walk away with points, you know, I know that sounds funny coming from me, right? It was positive, and did a great job, you know, putting it through the

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Quarterback Contained

Oregon inside linebacker Bryce Boettcher pressures Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

Q: How were you guys able to keep Demond Williams Jr. in the pocket?

Lanning: That’s probably the hardest guy in the nation to track in the pocket. And you can talk about what, you know, who are you gonna have as a spy? What are you gonna put on him? And you know, every time you're spying, like it showed up on their conversion there at the end where they hit the big touchdown. It's like, we steal a couple guys to protect versus him, you’re putting your guys out in coverage in the back end. And you know, Dillon, I'll have to watch it. It looked like he played really well. I know our team played physical. We were able to get some good hits on guys. You know, we were able to get the quarterback down at times too. So overall, man, complete team effort.

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Robbed

Oregon wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan, right, brings down a pass under cover from Washington cornerback Dylan Robinson as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington.

Q: What did you think of Jeremiah McClellan today?

Lanning: Man, proud of him. I thought he came down with that one. Obviously went to reviewing it, and we didn't get it. But J-Mac, you know, played well and had great composure in this game. Obviously made some really big plays. And when you start doing things like that, and you have a potent run game as well, it makes it tough to defend.

The Waiting Game

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Dan Lanning talks with Dante Moore #5 of the Oregon Ducks during the first half at Husky Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Q: How excited are you for the College Football Playoff?

Lanning: Very excited. I'm gonna enjoy the moment here for a little bit, probably through the rest of the night, and then start worrying about what's our prep plans, you know, moving forward. Our team's banged up, we have to get healthy. I think everybody at this point in the season is dealing with that, but there's only 12 teams in the nation they get to keep playing, right? I mean, some others can play, but in the real one, and we get the opportunity to do that, so I'm excited about that.

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Rounding Into Form

EUGENE, OREGON - NOVEMBER 22: Tosh Lupoi of the Oregon Ducks stands on the sidelines against the Southern California Trojans during the second half at Autzen Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Q: How do you think the defense performed today as a whole?

Lanning: Yeah, I thought Tosh called an outstanding game today. You know, I thought our defensive staff did a great job, and our players, you know, did too. There were some chunk plays, but we felt like chunk plays weren't going to be the difference. Explosive plays were gonna be the difference, and so we limited explosives being able to stay on top when the ball was in the air, I thought we attacked it. Obviously, the pass interference that was tough, you know, one that you don't want to have. But overall, you know, I thought it was a complete game. Really good job by our defensive staff just going out there round after round, even after the lack of a fourth- down conversion there at the end, to be able to stop them there was huge too.

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Head Held High

Oregon coach Dan Lanning appears on set as Duck fans flock to the set of ESPN’s College GameDay on the campus of the University of Oregon on Nov. 22, 2025, in Eugene, Oregon.

Q: How proud were you of this team today?

Lanning: Yeah, I just think overall, you look at this team, you look at in a lot of ways are most complete in all three phases, right? We've had great offense at times. We've had great defense. We've had good special teams, but not always in-sync at the same time. And I think, you know, this season, we've seen that show up together a lot. At some point offense will have to put the defense on your back. That kind of happened a little bit last week, right? At some point the defense puts the offense on their back. That happened this week, right? In some ways. And then special teams have been really outstanding this whole year.

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Wearing Thin

Oregon Ducks Spring Game 2025

Q: How important was it to have some of the warriors on the offensive line today?

Lanning: You know, you always evaluate all the way up to games. But those are tough guys that wanted to be a part of this opportunity, and they obviously went out and executed. So it's great when we have, you know, those numbers. Talk about strength in numbers, that comes from having numbers, and we had some today.

Under Pressure

EUGENE, OREGON - NOVEMBER 22: Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks poses with Noah Whittington #6 of the Oregon Ducks on the field at Autzen Stadium before a game against the Southern California Trojans on November 22, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Q: How does it feel accomplishing your goal after having almost no room for error?

Lanning: I mean, ultimately, it's always felt the same way. You win, it's up to you, and it's good being in charge, right? Being in control of your destiny. And you know, if you don't win, you have nobody here complaining about what the situation is, go win, right? And ultimately, that's the team that gets the opportunity to play in the playoffs. That's the way it's supposed to work. The team that earned it, went out there and played and won games, like that's what you have to do to get there. It's not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be hard. The whole season matters. It seems like, obviously, the playoff spectrum has changed a lot over the last couple of years, where it was always about the team that played the most consistent throughout the whole year, got that opportunity, and now it's changed a little bit. You can have some hiccups. We had one. We learned a lot from it, but you don't get, you know, second, third, fourth tries, and we knew that. So we had to play a certain way to make sure that we have that opportunity, and the guys wanted to make sure we did that on the field.

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Raucous Crowd

Fans cheer as Duck fans flock to the set of ESPN’s College GameDay on the campus of the University of Oregon on Nov. 22, 2025, in Eugene, Oregon.

Q: What do you think the fans will be like in the playoffs?

Lanning: I think they'll be pretty cranked up. Yeah, hopefully it's interesting weather. I know it could be fun for somebody.

Best for Last

EUGENE, OREGON - NOVEMBER 22: CBS sidelines reporter Jenny Dell interviews Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks after the game between the Oregon Ducks and the Southern California Trojans at Autzen Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Q: Do you think you’ve seen the best from your team yet?

Lanning: The time will tell. What I do know is this group will come to work, right? They’re already anxious to get back to work right now, which is awesome. I think the thing is that our group realizes how special this is. I hope you know, everyone realizes how special it is, where we're at right now, but the only things we can control are what we can control, and that's what we're going to focus on.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Notable quotes from Dan Lanning after Oregon’s win over Washington

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