Everything Oregon coach Dan Lanning said about Penn State ahead of the White Out
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Coach Dan Lanning praised Penn State's balanced strength across all phases.
- Lanning highlighted PSU’s scheme diversity, edge pressure and pass game threats.
- Oregon prepares for White Out noise with simulation tactics and practice planning.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning spoke to the media Monday night, just six days away from his Ducks’ matchup with the Penn State Nittany Lions in Saturday’s White Out game in Beaver Stadium.
Here’s everything Lanning said about PSU head coach James Franklin, Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions.
On Penn State in general
“Penn State is (an) extremely talented team. They do do it well in all three phases. Coach Franklin runs a great organization, and they present a ton of challenges. I’ve said it before, but defensively, they’re as multiple and disruptive as anybody we’ll play. They got great edge play. Dani Dennis-Sutton is one of the better defensive edge players in the league and in the nation. They’ve got good play in the back end as well. They do a great job overlapping, and have a lot of variety of schemes. Offensively, they’re really tough to prepare for because they’re moving almost every play. ... [They] have great running backs, good quarterback and their wide receiver play really stands out this year, they have some speed on the field, and then special teams are really sound so excited for that environment. It’s one that I haven’t been to before but have heard a lot about.”
On special teams coordinator Joe Lorig and co-offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer coaching in White Out games
“We’ve played in good environments before. They’ve described it as, it’s a good one. And that’s part of what makes college football fun. It’s a real one to get to go play in. We’ve got a great atmosphere here. It’s been an asset for us. I’m sure they’re counting on it being an asset for them. But again, play the game, not the occasion.”
On playing the song “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes in practice
“It’ll play. It’ll play a couple times. We’ll do everything we can to be prepared for that environment, for sure. ... I don’t love that song.”
On Penn State’s passing game
“They have some guys that can stretch the field. They run good routes, and the quarterback can make all the throws. He’s got a big arm. They throw more intermediate passing game and shot game than we’ve really seen. And that’s one of the great complements to their run game, is what they’re able to build off of that run game with shots down the field. They have the guys that can go get it. They have a guy who can go throw it.”
On what PSU DC Jim Knowles brought to the Nittany Lions
“You’re seeing a lot of scheme variation, which he had at Ohio State, but it’s a lot of the similar scheme that they carried at Ohio State. And he always has a new wrinkle. Every week you see something new that you haven’t necessarily seen on film, that he’s able to pull from, that he thinks defends you well, and that’s that’s always going to present a good challenge.”
On Penn State’s third and fourth down struggles on offense against their first three opponents
“We’re certainly looking at all film we have access to and everything that we’ve been able to watch. Each one of those teams is different than us, schematically, a little bit different than us. They’ll probably attack us differently than they attack them. But looking at every bit of film that we can we can watch.”
On Penn State’s run game
“It’s multiple. It’s not like you can say, OK, all the point of attacks are here. It’s in different directions. And those guys are really good at sticking their foot in the ground and getting vertical. They’re both different runners. [Nick Singleton] hits it and builds the speed quick. [Kaytron Allen], he’s playing as good as anybody right now. He’s got great vision, he’s got good patience, and he’s able to get vertical as well. So they’ve got a great O-line up front, blocking for them. They get hats on hats. They play a physical brand, but it’s tough because of the variety of scheme.”
On Penn State head coach James Franklin
“When you win like he’s won — I mean, he did it at Vanderbilt, he’s done it at Penn State. He’s had a lot of success. He’s had coordinator changes, and still been able to have success. They’ve adapted with times. I think they’re one of the better teams in utilizing the personnel they have. You saw what their attack looked like last year with Tyler Warren, now what their attack looks like this year with their backs, their quarterback, schematically on defense, willingness to change and adapt. I think there’s been a lot of variety that he’s shown over the years, and ability to win.”
On Penn State utilizing tight ends
“Yeah, that’s one of the things you go back even to their offense coordinator’s time at Kansas, he’s always done a really good job of utilizing tight ends. They’ve always had a lot of targets. They pop out of the ground. Really complements their run game the way they use them. So you know they’re always going to be a threat, and somebody you have to be alert for.”
On Penn State’s receivers
“I think more than anything, just the speed, I think you see the speed that shows up, and they’ve made more plays on contested catches this year than they had in the past. But again, they have the ability to stretch the field.”
On Penn State DE Dani Dennis-Sutton
“I think you see relentless effort on film from him, and he had that before, but you can see a confidence in him that he’s going to be a guy that goes and makes the play. Whether it’s shots on the ball, whether it’s the way he rushes, the way he attacks in the backfield. It really shows up.”
