Oregon Coach Dan Lanning on Oregon State Rivalry: “This game means a lot to me”
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The Oregon State Beavers have opened their season with three straight losses. However, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning spoke highly of his team’s rival in media availability this week.
In addition, Oregon offensive tackle Isaiah World, linebacker Jerry Mixon, and defensive back Theran Johnson have spoken with the press so far this week. Here are highlights from all of those conversations.
Oregon head coach Dan Lannning on whether to continue the Oregon/Oregon State rivalry
“Control what you can control. It’s certainly a game that I hope stays on the schedule, for the opportunity to get to play somebody in-state. Obviously, we travel a little bit more at the Big Ten. I know their conference is going to be reset and different, and they’re going to be traveling a little bit more. I think it makes sense to have teams that can play each other. They’re relatively close. And again, I think it’s what, 129 years that this rivalry has existed? That’s something you’d like to keep alive.”
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning’s message to his team this week
“I’m onto this game [versus Oregon State], right? But there’s a standard of play here, and you got outgained on the ground because you gave up a 79 yard run right at the end of the game [last week at Northwestern]. So like let’s just keep it in perspective of what it was. Now ultimately I didn’t think we won the line of scrimmage, on first down, on either side of the ball consistently enough on Saturday. So we have to continue to find ways to make sure that we’re doing what we need to do as coaches to put ourselves in that situation and that guys execute properly. But that’s what we focus on, is how do we make sure that we take our medicine and do a good job of finding ways to put our players in great position to do their jobs and make sure that they’re doing their jobs.”
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Oregon head coach Dan Lanning on the special significance of this rivalry
“The game means a lot to me, regardless, but hearing our players talk about it, hearing former players like Ryan Walk [graduate assistant and Eugene native] talk about this game like that, it definitely makes me want to go out there and execute at a high level, you know? And Bryce [Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher, a Eugene native] is certainly one of those games that it means a lot to.”
Oregon offensive tackle Isaiah World on whether the Northwestern game motivated him
“Uh, definitely! That was one of our emphases coming into Northwestern, to win the rushing battle and to win the first quarter. We won the first quarter but it wasn’t to our standard. So I think this week coming in, we definitely made that an emphasis, to win the line of scrimmage using our technique and doing the best we can. Just being able to move the line of scrimmage as best as we could, because that’s just where the game lives: in the trenches. So it definitely was an emphasis for us.”
Oregon linebacker Jerry Mixon on the Oregon/Oregon State rivalry
“It’s a big rivalry game. Everybody out in Oregon, and just being from here [at the University of Oregon], they’re our little bros and we go out there and kick their [expletive] right here.”
Oregon defensive back Theran Johnson, a recent transfer from Northwestern, shares his thoughts on the Oregon/Oregon State rivalry
“I mean, there’s rivalries like you play rivalries in middle school and high school. So like, you kind of understand the importance of it. Like I may not have been here for four years to, you know, talk smack to somebody else who’s on the other team right now, but I understand the importance of it to the guys, and they’ve definitely stressed it. So I’m coming in with the same demeanor and mentality as them.”
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.