Dan Lanning Opens Up About Dante Moore's Growth Since First Indiana Matchup

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning joined Indiana Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti in talking to the media on Saturday ahead of their teams' semifinal matchup in the College Football Playoffs. After losing to Indiana 30-20 in Autzen Stadium earlier in the season, Lanning spoke about his team's evolution since the first meeting, especially how Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has grown.

What Dan Lanning Said About Dante Moore

“Experience. You know, experience. You gotta remember when we played earlier in the season, Dante hadn't played a ton of games, and as you play an entire season, you get exposed to a lot of different looks, and you learn from those moments, and Dante has certainly learned from a lot of those moments what he's seen.”

oregon ducks dan lanning curt cignetti indiana hoosiers quarterback dante moore nick saban college football playoff transfer — Jan 1, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oregon Ducks linebacker Devon Jackson (26) and quarterback Dante Moore (5) celebrate following the 2025 Orange Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

“He's been obviously a great player for us and done an unbelievable job, but he's not the same player as he was earlier this year. What they do on defense is really difficult. You have to be willing to take what they give you at times. They do a great job of protecting against shots, but I think Dante's been a really good decisionmaker throughout the year, and that'll be something that's really important in this game.”

On Learning From the Loss to Indiana:

“I think when games don't go your way, you're always trying to look for answers and reasons why. And it's really simple. They blocked better. They tackled better. They moved the ball and controlled the clock. They converted third downs. You know, and it was all relatively close going into the fourth quarter, and then we turned the ball over.”

“So you try to find all these moments that, okay, this was the difference. It's every play, right? Every play added up and every play mattered. When you're playing a team with great technique that has great scheme like Indiana, that's the edge.”

“But, again, I know Dante is trying to find, okay, what are the things that didn't go right and how can he be better. I have a lot of confidence in Dante and the way he preps and knowing he maybe felt like he forced some things in this first game. He's not the same guy, like I said earlier, at this point in the season.”

Everything Else Dan Lanning Said:

“Honored to be here. Certainly, honored to get to participate in the Peach Bowl. Gary, appreciate everything that you do. Got an unbelievable amount of respect for coach Cignetti and the job that he's done at Indiana. You watch this team on film, obviously we got to experience it firsthand; this is one of if not the best coached teams in college football.”

“They play with unbelievable technique. They challenge you in every facet, in special teams, defensively, offensively. They've got great quarterback play, which I think is a secret to being in this position that they're in. And you watch this group, they play together. They've got great answers. They do what they do extremely well.”

“And on defense they challenge you in every way. They give you a lot of different looks. But this is just a group that's obviously playing their best football now. You saw that in their most recent game. And, again, just honored to get the opportunity to go share a field with coach and the job that he's done there.”

How the Team Improved Since the Last Meeting:

“I mean, in a lot of different facets. I won't get into every detail. You watch both of these teams. Neither one of us are the same team that you saw earlier in the season when we played each other.”

“I think we've grown in a lot of different ways, found different strength. As your team changes, you change and adapt to your strengths in your team, and you see the same thing with Indiana.”

What Makes the Indiana Defense Elite:

“In a lot of ways, you'd call it an illusion defense. They show you one thing, and they take something else away. They're really good at post-snap movement, which makes it difficult for the quarterback. Their defensive line plays with relentless effort. They're tough to block up front.”

“And then the technique continues to show up. They've got a guy basically playing quarterback there at linebacker that's able to get them lined up and execute. They've got a strong corner there in Ponds. They fly to the ball and they attack it in the air.”

“Probably the best zone break defense I've seen this year in college football. They do an unbelievable job there, and they get hats. Obviously, it all starts with stopping the run. They do a great job with that.”

The Biggest Lessons He Learned from Previously Facing the Same Opponent Twice in a Season:

“I won't get into great detail, but more than anything, stick to your process. I think coach Cignetti would share the same sentiment of our team with coach Saban. One thing you learned about is process. And it's all about process. It's all about making sure -- you don't go into a game, when you're sitting in the position that Indiana is sitting in or that we're sitting in, and say, 'Okay, I'm going to change a lot of the things that we do.'”

“You gotta buy in to what you've done the whole year to get you where you're at and really double down. So more than anything, double down on our process. Our guys have been a part of big games. When you play in the Big Ten, you're going to be a part of big games.”

“And every game can go different. Every game has a life of itself. So that's what we have to be able to do is focus on our process, be really obsessed with the details going into a game like this and put your players in a position to have success.”

The Significance of All Four Playoff Coaches Working with Nick Saban:

“I just echo that. In my time, I was working at Sam Houston State before I went to Alabama and was going to take a pay cut to go be a GA there. And when anybody asked me why, I said, I'm going to get my doctorate in football. And that's what I feel like working for coach Saban, just like coach said, you learn so much.”

“Things I thought I knew, I realized I didn't know anything. And I got to really carry that over with the opportunity to work with Coach Smart, who built off of that as well at Georgia. And that was an unbelievable experience for me, and obviously it shows here as we enter the semifinals.”

If His First Game with Oregon in This Stadium Still Motivates Him:

“We're a different team now, but I remember that game very vividly. 49-3 wasn't fun. It was a good baptism into coaching. And we're a completely different group now. But this will be as much as of a challenge as that game was when you're playing a team like Indiana.”

Offensive Line Evolution and Execution:

“Yeah, I certainly agree with Coach. I think you look -- if a team is good at one thing, there's the ability to take it away, and you look at both of our teams, you see a team that's multiple in the sense the way they're able to run it, the way they're able to throw screen game. We both have intermediate passing game as well as shots.”

“I think it's about when you are going to take those plays and make those plays, making sure that you're protected, and that's something that Indiana has done a great job. People that have tried to be aggressive against them, you see them take advantage of that.”

“They get the hats in there to protect, and they take advantage of one-on-one matchup, but our O line, coach Terry has done a great job all season, our entire offensive staff, of game planning those opportunities. This last game against Texas Tech, their rush was able to take advantage of us at times, so I think that will be a little bit of a chip on our guys' shoulder.”

“There's some opportunities that we can be better there in how we hold the pocket and how we take care of the ball. But ultimately you see two teams that are really complete. And like coach said, it really starts with the run game.”

On Preparing for Indiana During Transfer Portal

“And just to build off that sentiment first, I'll tell you, Coach Cignetti, keep focusing on those portal guys.”

“We're going through the same thing here. Sorry, I did a breakfast with some recruits this morning. It is what it is. Right? But I think on defense you always have to adapt a little bit more to the team you're playing, and I'd say regardless of what the game is, you want to try to take away their strengths.”

“Some of the stuff that we did previous game was built to the strengths of Texas Tech. Some of the stuff we'll do in this game have to be built around the strengths of Indiana and what we have to do there. Hopefully we are multiple and can pitch different looks, but you also have to ride the horse that got you here and do what you do well.”

How the Oregon Defense Has Evolved:

“Growth has been pretty standard. It's been pretty consistent for our team throughout. Like I said, none of the teams that are still around have not gotten better. We've improved. We're tackling at a higher clip. But it wasn't even two games ago that we didn't tackle that well versus JMU. So we got a lot to work on. We got a lot to improve.”

“We're nowhere near the finished product, and that's part of what makes the game of football great is that there's always room to get better. Even in the game, you could look at the scoreboard of our last game and say, oh, we played unbelievable defense, and I can tell you five things we gotta do better right now from that game.”

“So for us it's about consistent improvement and continue to attack what we can do better as a staff and as a team.”

MORE: Dan Lanning Doesn't Hold Back On Oregon Ducks' Orange Bowl Performance

MORE: Betting Odds Released for Indiana vs. Oregon Playoff Semifinal

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The Importance of Culture Over NIL When It Comes to the Transfer Portal:

“Yeah, I'd share the same sentiment. I think to get to this point in the season, culture is a word that's overused, certainly, in our sport. But you don't get to this point if you're not able to be selfless, and those are the lessons you try to teach in football. You have to think of the group and the team over yourself.”

“And to be at this point, that means there's a lot of players that made that decision, and you have to realize that individual success is going to come from team success. I think if you look at both of our teams, you see a lot of guys that are having a ton of individual success, and it all started with somebody else around them helping them have that success.”

“There's no great quarterback without great O-line players. There's no great secondary play without great D-line play, and that's what's great about the sport of football is the quicker your team can realize that, the team and connection are going to be separating factors, the quicker you're going to have success. And we've certainly been able to create some of that here at Oregon, and obviously Indiana has been able to create the same thing.”

What Conversations with Players Eyeing the Transfer Portal Look Like:

“Each one is different. There's some guys that come in, and I share the same sentiment as them, you know, that they might have an opportunity to be able to make an impact somewhere else. Some guys come in and you hate to see them go. We've been really fortunate to be able to hang on to the players that we really want to be here and have success.”

“And some of them you see them walk out the door and you just hope that they have a better opportunity wherever they move next. The grass isn't always greener, and that's something you have to figure out in life at times, but that's one of the life lessons that exists right now in college ball. But every conversation is different. The one thing that I expect from our guys is to have that conversation.”

Who He’ll Lean on in the Secondary with Transfers Out:

“Yeah, I'm probably going to play it, James. But if I'm not able to go, we'll put one of the other coaches out there.”

What the Opportunity for a Third-Straight National Champion Coming from the Big Ten Says About the Conference:

“Yeah, I just share the sentiment. I've been a part of the SEC, just like coach Cignetti has. I've been a part of the old Pac-12. I've been a part of a bunch of different conferences, and it's hard to argue that anybody is doing it better right now than the Big Ten. There's some quality from top to bottom.”

“Obviously, the National Championship teams have come from this conference the last two years, and the landscape has changed. Certainly, five years ago there wasn't a conference that was rolling and dominating, and I think the way you indicate that is the success of the teams in the conference.”

“And there's a lot of teams that have had success, and a variety of different teams. Coach just mentioned it, but we saw Michigan, and Washington a couple years ago in the National Championship game. You see Ohio State. This year you'll see a different Big Ten team. And I think that speaks to the quality and the strength of the conference overall.”

How Difficult Postseason Travel Is:

“It's not bad.”

How He Develops an Abundance of Confidence in His Team:

“Players create confidence. Coaches support it. Right? They go out there by doing it, and winning and failing. You make mistakes, and then you challenge yourself to say, okay, I don't want to make the same mistake again.”

“And mistakes can be a really good thing, especially when you have the self-awareness to recognize it. And you'd like those mistakes to happen in practice, and then you'd like to have guys that are hungry enough to say, okay, I'm really good at this. Let me not spend all my time in practice working on this.”

“Let me go work on what I'm not good at. And once you start doing that, whether it's a quarterback seeing the coverage or it's a defensive lineman trying to work a certain technique and you can create repetition, you can create confidence.”

If Teams Are Better from Dealing with the Chaos Created from the College Football Timeline:

“What I'll say is our players -- you know, I don't know if it makes you better dealing with what we're dealing with, but what it has made football teams and what it's made coaches and players is we can handle chaos, and we're really malleable. We understand that college football right now is about change. There's going to be a lot of change.”

“The teams that can do the best at adapting and handling what's thrown at you. We don't make the rules; we just have to adapt to them, and our guys handle that. They're tough kids. They can handle the chaos of a schedule. As much as we can keep it similar and consistent for them, as much as we can be open and honest with them, I think they can handle almost anything you pitch at them, and really, coaching staffs are built that way now, too.”

“There's a lot of things going on. We're dealing with two coaches on our staff that are going on to be head coaches, and the timing isn't necessarily perfect, but it's been done before, and it's a great challenge.”

“So I think if you look at the chaos in football and look at it as a challenge for your players and for your coaching staff, you build people that are resilient. You build people that are adaptable, and you build an organize that withstand a lot of the changes that exist.”