Dan Lanning's postgame comment draws fire on social media

In the media room after a hard-fought 42-27 win over USC, a reporter asked Dan Lanning a question about the College Football Playoff.

Does this game make Oregon's case for a home playoff game and a better ranking?

The fourth-year head coach took the question head-on.

"We just played a really good team and we beat them. A lot of times we play really good teams and they become unranked all of a sudden," Lanning said. "That's not our fault - well, maybe it is our fault."

"But all we're worried about is playing the teams we play and doing the job we need to do. And we did that job today. Proof is in the pudding - we played a good team and we beat them. All we can do next week is try to do the same thing."

"This conference is a really good conference. It's competitive. We didn't play Chattanooga State today like some other places. We competed. That being said, it's tough playing nine conference games, it's tough playing in this league and we got to take advantage of playing a good team today and attacking that."

Chattanooga State isn't a real school-- Dan Lanning knows that. Georgia played Charlotte Saturday. Texas A&M hosted Samford. He didn't set out to criticize any specific school, just to point out playing a tough opponent in November was a much bigger challenge when a team is beat-up than scheduling an FCS breather and taking an easy win.

The point shouldn't be controversial but it was. Critics lambasted the coach on social media, pointing out how easy Oregon's schedule is and how the Ducks played Montana State and Oklahoma State in September. It's much different playing a couple of tune-ups to start the season, which most teams do.

Every conference has its gauntlet

The Ducks' November schedule was a grind, and they're three-quarters of the way through it. They won a demanding road game at 7-4 Iowa in the wind and rain, beat 6-5 Minnesota on short rest with the Gophers coming off a bye, topped 8-3 USC by two touchdowns Saturday.

They out-toughed the No. 15 Trojans despite being beat-up and shorthanded, missing three of their best receivers and three starters on the offensive line. At Duck Sports Central, Scott Reed wrote, "The second half turned into the kind of layered drama that made the Ducks’ playoff case look both resilient and battle-hardened."

Lanning advocated for his team, which is what he's supposed to. That didn't stop the keyboard warriors from going after him.

It isn't necessary to argue which conference is best. That's what the playoffs are for. As Lanning says, the proof's in the pudding.