Dan Lanning can take all the heat. He didn't Duck the question or get defensive.
Former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan came out to Eugene last week to film the latest episode of their "Bussin with the Boys" podcast, participating in one rep of practice, working out in the weight room and sitting down for an interview with Dan Lanning in the Oregon football meeting room at the Hatfield-Dowlin Center.
They asked him, "Take us into the mental of Dan Lanning, where you're down 34-10 at halftime going against Ohio State."
Actually it was worse than that, 34-8 to be exact.
Lanning looked right at the hosts.
"Whew, Tough, he said,
"I think the easy thing in those moments, especially afterwards, is, 'let me make excuses as to why.'"
Dan Lanning went on Bussin with the Boys and said he wakes up every morning thinking about getting blown out by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
— JBook. (@JBook_37) April 15, 2025
Lanning said Ohio State did things they weren't prepared for. Also said the 3 week layoff was tough.https://t.co/FmtaKarRGL pic.twitter.com/wDoqJdJc5b
"If you're a growth mindset guy, if you're wired like we are here, to me it's like 'how do I make sure this doesn't happen again?'"
"You've got to learn from that moment and as rough as it is."
"On the same note, in the middle of the game, what am I saying, 'Hey, I remember Georgia-Alabama game earlier this year it wasn't close man but those guys came back in the second half.'"
"We certainly played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first."
"I'm that guy I want to fight until there's no time left on the clock."
"That's the mindset. When you leave that game, after the game is over with you're like okay, 'How do I make sure that doesn't happen again?'"
Lanning was careful to give Ryan Day and the Buckeyes credit for a tremendous playoff run.
"Ohio State, unbelievable team. Really well-coached. Coach Day did an unbelievable job this year. They're gonna have a ton of guys drafted. They had a lot of success. So will we.
He didn't bring up the layoff until the hosts asked him about it, and stressed he needed to do a better job of preparing his team and keeping them sharp.
In all, Lanning had the only appropriate response to a devastating loss. You use it as fuel. Oregon hasn't lost often in his tenure, but he's used every one of those losses (35-6) to hold a mirror up to the program and grow, taking the team from 10-3 to 12-2 to 13-1 over the last three years.