CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: OREGON VS INDIANA

January 9, 2026

Dan Lanning

Dante Moore

Bryce Boettcher

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Oregon Ducks

Postgame Press Conference

Indiana, 56 - Oregon, 22

DAN LANNING: First off, all the credit in the world to Indiana. Said it before that they're an unbelievably well-coached team. I think that was really apparent tonight. They started off hot, and they really didn't slow down. They were able to run it and have success.

Passing at their defense played outstanding. We were able to generate a little momentum there at times, but we were so far in the hole that you really couldn't create yourself out of that. And the takeaway is obviously they were able to create some. We didn't create those. They won average starting field position throughout the night. Their special teams were special.

You see a really complete team. And I think they obviously have a great chance to keep it going and have unbelievable success. Credit to the Coach Cignetti and credit to those players. They've got great leadership and a veteran team that really showed up.

Q. Coach Lanning and Dante, you guys seemed to feel very confident that you had fixed a lot of issues that contributed to the poor offensive play in the first game. What went wrong tonight?

DANTE MOORE: First thing is first, the quarterback has to protect the football. They have a great defense, great disguise and different looks, but you can't win football games if you're causing turnovers. Something of course I need to work at. It comes with just reps. But overall, I mean, Indiana defense is great, defensive coordinator, but at the end of the day, we beat ourselves.

DAN LANNING: Ultimately there were moments where we had success offensively. But obviously when you have the takeaways, you start off with the pick six. You get a little bit in the hole. You probably start to press a little bit. You get away from some of the success you have in the run game at times.

There's moments that we had some plays, but that's a damn good team. And you gotta give credit to them, too. It's not just what we didn't do, it's what they did do.

Q. Coach, just your takeaways having gone up against Fernando Mendoza now twice, coaching against him, just what you saw from him this time around and just overall his play?

DAN LANNING: Yeah. The guy makes the right decisions. You consistently see if he sees the right coverage, you know, he takes the ball where it's supposed to go, dictated by coverage. I think he did a great job again on the scrambles early. I thought we had him boxed up on the third down early in the game, which was critical and was able to scramble for a first down. That happened a couple of times. They were 11 for 14 on third down.

So when you're able to have that kind of success on third down, you can't get a stop on third down. That's a lot of credit to him, the job he does. He understands what he's doing. He has great weapons to be able to take advantage of.

Q. Coach Lanning, what's the hardest part of being in the locker room right now?

DAN LANNING: Man, you hurt for those guys because the world is going to judge everybody in that room based on the result tonight. I'm going to judge those guys on the kind of fathers they become some day, kind of husbands they become some day. But in this moment you feel like a failure, right, for them, and they're not. They're not failures. These guys won a lot of damn ball games. They've had a lot of success. They've change some peoples' lives, but right now, that moment is going to hurt.

And the hard part, you know, you got guys like Bryce that they don't get to be a Duck anymore. They will be a Duck forever, but he does not get to go wear that uniform and go play a game for us again. I really wanted that for them, really wanted them to be able to enjoy that and experience that, and they don't get to. And I didn't do a good enough job of getting them there.

They set the stage where there might be an opportunity down the road where somebody in this program is able to create something like that again, but he won't get to share that. But he will be a part of that if we're able to accomplish that moving forward.

Q. Dante, on that second turnover, can you describe what happened? Looked like you went back to throw and hit the running back's shoulder or something. Can you describe that play and kind of how that really seemed to kind of almost finish you guys off a little bit?

DANTE MOORE: Yeah. On that play, it was running back was behind me in the pistol and tried to throw the smoke screen off the field. I gotta clear the midline better to make sure that when I am going to throw, I don't hit the running back in his elbow. So the ball hit his elbow, but at the end of the day, it's on me. I gotta take care of the ball and make sure they're out of the way and get the ball to the receivers.

Q. Dante, we saw you and Poncho have a long embrace there at the end of the game. Just curious if you can share what he said to you in that moment and what it was like with your teammates.

DANTE MOORE: Yeah. Poncho is somebody I love to death, and we've been through a lot this year, and I love him to death. And he's just somebody that's always willing to pray for me. He prayed for us in that moment, just prayed for the season. Just at the end of the day, Jesus won. At the end of the day, you have to give him his glory. It is just two competitive teams that's playing on the biggest stages in the world right now. And at the end of the day, you gotta give God the glory win or loss.

Q. Bryce, I wanted to ask you being the senior, how does it feel to kind of sum of your career with Oregon?

BRYCE BOETTCHER: Yeah, it sucks right now. I'm not going to lie. Not how I envisioned it whatsoever. Obviously prepared to win, and Indiana was a better team tonight. Doesn't take away from our season. We had one heck of a season. Didn't finish how we wanted to, but my journey here has been unbelievable.

I have had so many people, Coach Lanning included, give me an opportunity, a local kid who is a buck 95, played football two years ago. And so many people in my corner that helped me accomplish what I've been able to. So I'm blessed and grateful.

Q. Dante, obviously the calendar of college football doesn't allow a lot of time to reflect and move on. And I'm wondering how you look at the decision you have upcoming to return or not and maybe the process of going through that decisionmaking?

DANTE MOORE: I knew that question was coming. Yeah. I want to soak this moment up. That's most important. Just giving hugs and just thank yous to my teammates, but at the end of the day, I don't know my decision yet.

I'm going to talk to Coach Lanning and talk to my family and everybody, but at the end of the day, I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to think about my teammates and give love to them. Appreciate you though.

Q. Dan, having seen them twice now this year, how would you describe the roll they are on right now maybe compared to October and why from your standpoint they're kind of playing with this sort of relentless confidence they have.

DAN LANNING: They're complete. Again, they do a lot, and they do it really, really well. And there's not a weakness in their game. They run the ball well. They stop the run well. They throw the ball well. They defend the pass well. They're great in special teams. So you see a really complete team, a well-coached team. They obviously have a ton of belief and deservedly so. They're really good.

Q. Defensively thought you guys had learned a lot. How much pressure was it put on the defense with the turnover consequently being in that situation? (Inaudible).

BRYCE BOETTCHER: We take pride in putting the fire out, and we've done a pretty good job of that all year. Obviously it's hard to play when turnovers happen, but it is a standard that whenever the ball is placed, we don't let them score. And they scored too much tonight, so that's on the defense and credit to Indiana.

Q. Dante, what kind of impact did the crowd have tonight? Obviously heavily favored Indiana.

DANTE MOORE: Yeah. I thought it was just the right seats, but it was the Indiana fans. They had a ton of fans here. Of course I'm just glad that the fans from Oregon were able to make it. I'm glad they came.

Yeah, but it was pretty loud. At the end of the day, the dome gets pretty loud, but we prepared for loud situations and changed up the cadence. But yeah, they came out and showed out.

Q. Dan, it's hard to avoid the fact that your season ends in really lopsided fashion for a second straight year in the playoff.

As you reflect on this, is there anything that you see that you wish you had done differently in terms of preparation or that you will take with you going forward for when you guys are back in this position?

DAN LANNING: I think it's probably too premature for me to speak on what happened tonight until I go back and really evaluate it. We're about growth. It is not just sometimes.

I also think you can't discredit that we played well. We've played well at times even here in the postseason. Yeah, there will be an opportunity for reflection and evaluation, but I couldn't speak on that right now.

Q. Dante, you speak so much about your faith and you gave all glory to God. As you reflect on this opportunity with the Oregon Ducks and what was given to you, what you can say about being a Duck for life no matter what happens in your decision and what your faith has done to carry you through this including this moment?

DANTE MOORE: Yeah. My faith has taken me a long way, my freshmen year at UCLA. That was the most adversity I've been in my life. Being 17 years old in LA, there's not many people I could rely on. You know, I am from Detroit, Michigan, very far from there.

I know God is always on my side through the good, bad and ugly. Just someone I relied on, prayed everyday to. And even right now, you know, the sun will come up in the morning and give me light, walk in His path, and trust in His journey that he has for me. It's God's time in everything I do.

Q. Coach, I'm curious, you had some reserve O-linemen step into some big spots in the second half. Fox Crader and Kawika Rogers, what did you think of their performance tonight?

DAN LANNING: Again I'll have to watch the film. I'm sure they did some good things, but I'll have to watch it a little bit closer.

Q. Dan, again, I know it's immediate aftermath here, but as you look at Dante and his future and his trajectory, is there, I don't want to say silver lining, but like what do you think he can learn from an experience like this game and what he went through tonight?

DAN LANNING: I think every man can learn from adversity. I just told that whole locker room, right, this is going to be about how you respond in life.

This is going to be a life lesson that a lot of people never get. We just got our butt kicked. Right? That's going to happen in life, right, and not just Dante. Every single person in the locker room, every coach, every person can learn, hey, how do you respond to that.

Some people crawl into a hole, right, don't face the music. Some people say, okay, let's figure it out. Let me challenge myself so I can be better. Let me be an example of how you handle moments like this. I think there is a way to handle that.

Dante has been exceptional. Bryce, these guys have been exceptional, stewards of what we wanted to look like all year long. And it's wrong right for us 13 times. Didn't go right tonight. And you can't let that overshadow. Every one of us has unbelievable disappointment. Learn from it. But there's a lot of lessons to be learned for everybody in life, and we'll learn the hard lessons here. And you know what, most people will never be in the position where they get to learn that lesson that we get to learn on. These guys were in that position.

Q. Dante, there's a lot to be said about experience versus talent. You're clearly uber talented, but do you feel like (inaudible)?

DANTE MOORE: Yeah. Quarterbacks learn from each other. Of course when I watched the film, I'm not just going to watch our side of the ball. I'm going to watch him. He's done a great job all year especially in the red area protecting the football, scoring, doing what they've been doing. They're on the field for a reason.

I give him his credit. Somebody I'm going to stay in touch with when it comes to just talking ball, talking life, but quarterbacks learn from each other. And I'm excited how much I can learn from this game and learn from my future coming up.