CFP QUARTERFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: OREGON VS TEXAS TECH

December 30, 2025

Dan Lanning

Hard Rock Stadium

Oregon Ducks

Press Conference

DAN LANNING: Certainly excited to be here at the Orange Bowl. Definitely pumped to play a great Texas Tech team. Got a lot of respect for Coach McGuire and the job he does. We just wrapped up a practice, and enjoying our time so far in Miami.

Q. What's the keys to victory for you guys?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, play our game. We've got two really good teams. Can't go out there thinking about making mistakes. Have to go out there and execute and do your job. Two explosive offenses, two defenses that have played really well throughout the season.

But ultimately we've got an elite quarterback. We've got a team that plays really well together. We need that to show up in this game.

Q. Does it feel different preparing for a quarterfinal?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, definitely different. I think that's been a benefit for our players, staying in sequence, in rhythm. It's a lot easier to maintain that rhythm for us. But definitely a difference.

Q. Coming off a big win, getting to take that momentum into the next game, how much different was that than last year?

DAN LANNING: We came off a big win from the Big Ten Championship the year before. It's just a lot of time in between. There isn't a lot of time to think, which is good. In my opinion, playoff games should be played in sequential order and really quickly. I think that allowed for a little bit more of that rhythm this year for us, which is good.

Q. I know you guys have had one 9:00 a.m. this year. How do you prepare for that?

DAN LANNING: We practice every morning in the morning. That's kind of our sequence. This will be like 9:00 a.m. for us. That's normally right when we're hitting the practice field. So not that different.

Obviously we got out here yesterday with a little bit of time to prepare and kind of get in rhythm with what the time difference feels like. Got our players up this morning ready to roll. I think it's something we'll be ready for.

Q. So far the Big Ten is 5-0, undefeated (indiscernible) what does that say about the conference?

DAN LANNING: I think the record itself speaks for the conference, the quality of players and coaches and teams in this conference. I definitely think the Big Ten is the best conference in college football. Last two National Championships have indicated that as well.

It's a good opportunity, some good teams, good Big Ten teams still playing football right now, and I hope they show up.

Q. They're 17-plus in the turnover margin. How do you not feed into that?

DAN LANNING: I think the biggest credit to that belongs to their defense and the way they attack the ball. Even when it might be credited as a missed tackle, that's because they're punching and attacking the ball.

They do as good a job of anybody that we played in attacking the ball. We have to do a great job of protecting it. And then it's kind of a competition between our defense and their defense on who can create takeaways.

Q. On Gary's injuries and bringing him back --

DAN LANNING: Yeah, ultimately injuries this year have really played a part in our theme of the season, which is strength in numbers and being able to lean on guys that can go play winning football for you.

We have a lot of guys that can do that, and we have coaches that are doing a good job of being able to adapt. When you get guys back, you want to figure out how you can get back in rhythm and be able to utilize those players. But it won't change some of the things that we've been able to create over the last few weeks.

Q. Losing two of your coordinators, how much does that --

DAN LANNING: Yeah, one thing, I'll give great credit to Coach Stein and Coach Lupoi. They've worked their tails off. You wouldn't know a difference that they're taking other jobs. They're spending a lot of time at night working on the job that they're about to go into. But they're spending a lot of time during the day on the job that they have and the job that they feel responsible for towards our players. They've worked extremely hard, and the players around them have prepared really, really hard, which has been awesome to see.

Q. (Indiscernible) about that part of success as a head coach, how you have to keep doing this or you have to keep doing that?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, it's always been on the forefront of my mind. It's something you want to happen in a program. I think it speaks to a healthy program when coaches get opportunities. I've certainly leaned on some other people on how they've helped handle that situation and what it has to look like.

I think the biggest thing is you can't cheat the players. It's something that they've earned, they deserve. We've got to be able to give them our best and adapt to make sure we can give them our best.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

DAN LANNING: Bo is doing great, man. It really fires me up. I think everybody knows I'm a Chiefs fan. But if it's not the Chiefs, I'd love to see an Oregon Duck go take care of business, and Bo has been doing an outstanding job.

Q. What's the overarching message to the team this week?

DAN LANNING: Play your game, real simple. I'm not getting into our theme of the week, but ultimately go out there and execute the way you're meant to do. What you've shown us a million times in practice, let it show up on the field.

Q. (Indiscernible) did he have a setback?

DAN LANNING: No, no setback. We just like moving Evan up and down so you guys talk about it instead of talking about our team.

Q. What do you think the advantage is of having a game under your belt?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, I think it helps you keep your rhythm, keep your rhythm when you get an opportunity to keep playing football. If you have a long break, it's hard to keep the rhythm and the focus for your players.

Q. What concerns you about Tech's offense?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, again, explosive offense. They have receivers outside that can win. They've got running backs that are really good in the run game, a quarterback that makes great decisions, tight ends show up in the passing game.

They're able to play with tempo, which will be a challenge at times. That means you have to line up and get the call in play. Ultimately they're really efficient.

Q. Talk about the importance of the strong start and being able to land the first punch --

DAN LANNING: Yeah, one, Tech is a really strong team. Even if you look at them deep in the fourth quarter, they've really beat their teams by a heavy margin in the fourth quarter. So it's about playing a fourth-quarter battle, but that starts with starting fast. We've been a really good team when we start fast. We've got to be a team that can play all four quarters in this game.

Q. What was the hardest part of that long layoff last season?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, just the time, maintaining focus, the transition, all the things that go on with the portal. At that time the portal was already open. A lot of things exist in that window that makes it difficult, but everybody is dealing with it.

Q. What do you feel like is different about this team that you have this year?

DAN LANNING: I'd certainly say strength in numbers, just the amount of players that we can play. The depth of our roster is certainly different. The mindset, the maturity of our players, it really sticks out to me.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

DAN LANNING: There's always pressure, and you want pressure. We expect to go win this game. It's going to be tough because Texas Tech I promise expects to go win this game. But that's something you sign up for.

Q. Coming to South Florida, what's the team --

DAN LANNING: We love Florida. We love Florida. There's a lot of great talent here. Our offensive line coach, Coach Terry, was talking about wearing an Orange Bowl outfit as a kid, working this same bowl game for a long time as a kid. We have some great players on our team from Florida. We always want to recruit the best, and there's some really good players here in this area. It's an area that we want to do a good job in.

Q. What are you looking most forward to come game day?

DAN LANNING: The game. We get into coaching, there's a lot of things that go outside of that. You get in the opportunity to coach because you want to influence players, you want to make an impact on guys, and then you want a chance to coach in great games like this.

Q. How do you keep guys -- at the end of the day they're college kids, but they're athletes, great at what they do. How do you keep them locked in in a place like Miami? I'm sure they have great friendships, but how do you keep them serious?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, I think all of us here are different. It's not like your typical bowl game five years ago. The opportunity to keep playing, to take care of business in this game is one that's really important.

When we talk about sacrifice with our team, you're willing to sacrifice some things so you can take the next step. Our team, I have zero concerns about them being here. They're going to make some sacrifices so we can make sure we execute at our best on game day.

Q. I want to talk about the five guys up front. I know we listen to Emmanuel saying we trust each other, the trust we have for each other. Tell me about that.

DAN LANNING: Yeah, one, I've been a lot of places, the O-line, the unit as a group, it's stronger here than anywhere I've been. They're truly like brothers in that room. They love and care for each other. I think it's a great indicator of our success this season and why that credit belongs to our O-line.

I know they're up for the Joe Moore Award. It's the third year in a row they've been up for that award. I certainly think they're very deserving of that. But ultimately whoever is up next, they go and they attack, and they care about the people around them. They're able to have fun. It's a group that has a lot of fun. But when they step on the field, they're very serious and certainly serious about protecting Dante.

Q. The rhythm of a playoff, to get that game a couple weeks ago, how do you feel about transitioning out of that and into this week?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, ultimately I think the best way to get good at football is playing football, and the best way to keep your rhythm is to continue to play. So us having that game in a lot of ways helps us keep our process the same, our schedule the same.

I think that can be a benefit coming into this game. Our guys have been able to maintain focus, and just really have to focus on one opponent that's really far down the road for a long period of time. Ultimately it's been a really good setup for our guys.

Q. Obviously Ohio State last year, but were there any indications from your side that that was going to happen?

DAN LANNING: I thought our guys practiced really hard. They played hard. Ultimately I thought those guys had a great plan for us and we didn't have a good plan. Also, they looked fresh and in sync, in rhythm, and I think part of that is probably a credit to them being able to play in a game against Tennessee.

But I did not go into that game thinking we were not going to have success. We had some success in the second half. I just think it took us a little while to warm up.

Q. (On the change in the playoff schedule.)

DAN LANNING: Yeah, I don't have a problem with the byes. I think teams that are higher seeds deserve byes. I think where the big problem is is trying to wait to play the games for a long period of time. Whether there's conference championship games or the end of the season ends at the end of the regular season, to me, games should be played every single week, every Saturday from there on out so, if there's a bye, there's no more than a two-week window waiting for a team to play.

Q. (Inaudible.)

DAN LANNING: It's different when you have one game. When you have one game and then there's an opportunity to have another game after that. To me, everybody has been in the playoffs for a long time before Division I football got involved in the playoffs.

Once we decided we wanted to do playoffs, we should have ultimately, in my opinion, followed the format of every other playoff model that exists, whether it's the NFL, whether it's FCS football, whether it's Division II football, March Madness. Those games, there's not those long breaks in between. I think that's somewhere we messed up.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

DAN LANNING: Nothing really different than what we've done for our long travel games. We've played at Rutgers this year, Penn State, played at Northwestern. We've traveled probably more than any other team at our level in the country. So that's something we're used to.

But also in the spirit of the playoffs, I do think that there should be home playoff games until you get to the National Championship. There should be an advantage to being a higher-seeded team.

I'm sure we'll have a great turnout here at the Orange Bowl, but ultimately I bet we'd have an unbelievable turnout if this was at Texas Tech, or in the same frame, if this was Eugene, Oregon, or wherever these games could be played.

Q. Will you go back to Oregon if you win this game?

DAN LANNING: Yeah, we'll go back, and then we'll go to the Peach Bowl.

We're used to the travel. You get an eight-day window for the next game, so we'll travel back right after the game, hit the reset button, and then travel back again.