For a while, they barely broke a sweat. That's what countless people are thinking right now after the Oregon Ducks were able to take down JMU in dominant fashion in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The final score was 51-34, with JMU playing much better in the second half.
Usual suspects give Oregon massive halftime lead over JMU in CFP first round
Despite that, the expectation was that Oregon would cruise to a win and now all eyes are going to be on Texas Tech for Dante Moore, Dan Lanning and the rest of the Ducks. As for Lanning, he was of course happy his team posted a win, but he also didn't hesitate in calling Oregon out as a whole. Why? Because the play overall wasn't good enough for him.
"We didn't play our best football," Lanning said while on the field speaking with ESPN. "We turned the ball over multiple times. We have to play better on defense. It was a tale of two halves. Played well in the first half, didn't play well in the second. We can play much better than that."
Dan Lanning called out his Oregon players despite the win over JMU in the CFP
Can you blame Lanning for feeling that way? At the end of the first half, the Ducks were up 34-6, simply owning things for the first 30 minutes of the action. However, JMU outscored Oregon 28-17 in the second half, which Lanning and his coaches didn't like one bit.
"Getting better, period," Lanning said when asked what Oregon needs to clean up. "We got an opportunity to advance (in the CFP) and now we've got an opportunity to improve."
Come Jan. 1, a much more difficult challenge is going to be on the way with Texas Tech and Joey McGuire waiting. The Big 12 champs are also playing with a ton of confidence and they're not going to let Oregon get away with some of the silly mistakes that were showcased on Saturday night.
Lanning has never been one to hide away from what's on his mind and you know he's going to give us all even more fantastic soundbites leading up to kickoff vs. the Red Raiders. He's going to want to see his guys bounce back ASAP. While a win was recorded, you can tell Lanning wants to see a better effort from his group for 60 minutes the next time they take the field.