What Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said about Penn State before the Big Ten championship game
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Big Ten championship game
Penn State is headed to Indianapolis to take on Oregon for the Big Ten title. Read below for everything you need to know before the game.
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Oregon head coach Dan Lanning spoke to the media Sunday ahead of his team’s matchup with Penn State in the Big Ten championship game.
Here’s what Lanning said about the Nittany Lions.
On adjusting to playing in the Big Ten
“I think the Big 10 has always been a league that’s been identified as a physical, tough conference. And I would say every indication of what we’ve been able to experience this year has shown that it is, that it certainly matters. But I think that’s the equation to winning football. If you want to have a winning football team, a successful football team, you have to be physical. You have to go win in the trenches. And that’s where games are really won. So it certainly holds true in this conference, but that really holds true across the landscape of college football.”
On Penn State TE Tyler Warren
“I haven’t been able to watch a ton a film, but I’ve seen a lot of film on him through crossover and just what he’s been able to do in college football so far this season. He’s obviously an elite player that’s a matchup issue, and a complete tight end. So I’m excited to hop in and dive into that plan and try to figure out how we can neutralize him. I think they do as good a job of any of utilizing their personnel. I think their scheme is is really difficult to plan for offensively so that’ll be a fun challenge for us and our defensive staff.”
On Penn State DE Abdul Carter
“I think with anything, just watching their defense and their offense, you see guys that play really well together. Eleven guys playing kind of as one. They have an aggressive nature. He’s certainly a guy that’s shown physicality and ability to play all over the field. So he’s somebody you have to be aware of. And I think they have a lot of players on that defense that you have to be aware of where they’re at, and we’ll have to do a great job of identifying them. I haven’t been able to hop into a lot of film yet with the recruits we have on campus and where we’re at, but there’s a lot of time between now and game day where we can start to prepare on that.”
On Penn State QB Drew Allar
“I think composure is certainly one of the things that stick out. And understanding of their offensive scheme. I think it’s about taking what’s there. But he’s also a guy that’s made some really tight throws in some great windows this year. I think he understands his personnel and his strengths, knows who he wants to get the ball to, but more than anything, just a composed operator that goes out there and can execute at a really high level and create explosive plays.”
On Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki
“I’ve actually followed Andy for a while. One of the things I do here every week is I watch explosive plays across college football. Last year going through film, and previous years going through film, Andy’s film always showed up. So as I watch explosive plays of other teams through college football, you’d watch and see unique formations pop up. Whether that was in his time in Kansas or now his time at Penn State, you see some unique ways to use personnel and create tough, tough looks for defenses. So he’s a guy that is able to get the numbers right at the point of attack. He’s a guy that has a lot of smoke and mirrors that make it tough, that you have to have great eye discipline. But explosive plays is one of the biggest things that stand out, as he consistently creates explosive plays in this offensive scheme. And it requires guys to do a great job of taking care of their job. A lot of one on one tackles have to be made. But the way he utilizes his personnel, is something that stuck out to me for a long time.”
On Penn State HC James Franklin
“Outside of Big Ten meetings, I haven’t spent a lot of time with James, but certainly have watched him from afar and seen the success he’s had in his time at Vanderbilt and there at Penn State. Obviously, one of the elite coaches in the profession right now and runs this program the right way. So somebody I have a lot of respect for.”
On what he learned from both Oregon and Penn State playing Ohio State
“I think ultimately both teams showed the ability to play winning football. And games like the game coming up this weekend, these are generally tight games. So learning that our team can win in a tight situation certainly matters. And we’ve had some other tight situations this year. So the resiliency of our team, but certainly Penn State’s ability to match up and play really well against some of the best teams in the nation. That’s one of the benefits of playing in the Big 10, is you get to play against great opponents each week.”
On recruiting against Penn State
“I think they have a storied history. I think their coaching staff is similar to ours, where they’re relentless in their pursuit of great players. I think every great coach would tell you that it takes great players to be a good coach. So they do a good job. They do a good job of identifying talent. They have strong roots, certainly in the Northeast, on the East Coast, but they’re a team like us that can recruit nationally. So when they put a good product on the field, they’re going to go work to recruit some of the best players. And that means we’re going to get in battles at times, because we’re going to do the same.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 12:29 PM.
