Dan Lanning Identifies Biggest Fixes on the Oregon Ducks Defense

The hit and ensuing injury on No. 15 Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore stole headlines in the win over the No. 18 USC Trojans, allowing the Oregon defense to fly under the radar after a respectable performance against one of the top scoring units in the country. The Trojans now rank as the No. 24 scoring offense in the country as Oregon brought down USC's average from 43 points to 39.8 points per game.

Dan Lanning on Oregon Ducks Defense

Still, Ducks coach Dan Lanning still sees room for growth for the Oregon defense, despite holding USC to 2-for-11 on third down conversion attempts. During Oregon's bye week, Lanning broke down what he saw from the defense after reviewing the flim against the Trojans:

oregon ducks dan lanning defense improvements chris hampton koi perich usc trojans lincoln riley offense big ten — Oregon defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. hits USC running back Waymond Jordan as the Oregon Ducks face the USC Trojans on Sept. 26, 2026, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“We still gave up way too many explosive plays for us to be the team that we want to be, and they have some really good scheme that we just faced, right?" said Lanning. "And they were able to create explosives, but there's answers that we didn't have answers to that we had to have better answers.”

“You know, I think we did a good job choking out the run in between the tackles, but then there were some explosive runs on the perimeter that we got to do a better job at and adjust at better. And again, some of the passing game explosives we've got to eliminate," Lanning continued.

As noted by the Ducks coach, USC completed on 6 of 10 pass attempts at least 15-yards long, highlighting a vulnerability in the Oregon defense. Additionally, the Trojans had 10 explosive passing plays (at least 15 yards long) for a total of 214 yards.

USC receivers Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Terrell Anderson both had multiple receptions for over 20 yards while receivers like Zacharyus Williams and Ethan "Boobie" Feaster also logged 20-yard receptions against the Ducks.

Potential Answers for the Oregon Ducks

While the defensive line and the struggle to bring down opposing sacks seemed to dominate the discussion surrounding Oregon's defense after a 2-1 start to the season, USC revealed some potential issues in the secondary for the Ducks.

Cornerbacks Brandon Finney Jr., Na'eem Offord, and Ify Obidegwu have impressed so far, with Finney sometimes rotating into the nickelback position to get the best 11 defenders on the field. Ducks freshman Davon Benjamin has also turned heads early, but the Ducks' safeties leave some to be desired.

Obidegwu led the team with three pass breakups against USC, and safety Koi Perich sealed the victory by intercepting Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava in the end zone during the fourth quarter. Perich also logged seven tackles in the winning effort, but USC took advantage of some coverage gaps in the middle of the field against the Oregon defense.

Safeties Peyton Woodyard and Aaron Flowers each logged three tackles, but younger players like Jett Washington and Trey McNutt have not yet had a significant role in the rotation. Flowers briefly exited the USC game with an injury, though, which could open the door to increased reps in practice for players like Washington or McNutt.

Plays like USC's first touchdown, an unguardable throw from Maiava to Dixon-Wyatt with linebacker Jerry Mixon covering the receiver, will happen, but the Ducks will need to limit the explosive plays in order to compete with the best of the Big Ten.

Oregon has some time during the bye week to iron out some issues in the secondary before the Ducks take on the No. 23 UCLA Bruins on Oct. 10.

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