Dan Lanning’s Perfect Throw Prompts Pat McAfee’s Massive Donation

Before the No. 6 Oregon Ducks kicked off against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday, Sept. 12, Oregon coach Dan Lanning made an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay to talk about his team and the matchup with Oklahoma State.

ESPN's Pat McAfee challenged Lanning to hit the cross bar of the goal post with a $500,000 donation to the Sam Day Foundation on the line. Lanning missed his first two attempts, but he hit the cross bar from the 15-yard line on his third and final attempt.

"Sam Day Foundation. It's a childhood cancer research group. Hey, I got 50k of my own Pat to go with it," said Lanning.

oregon ducks dan lanning oklahoma state cowboys espn college gameday boise state broncos dante moore — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks on as the Oregon Ducks host the Boise State Broncos on Sept. 5, 2026, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Lanning has a history of teaming up with the Sam Day Foundation, most recently starting a challenge with Cameo to help raise funds for the charity. Lanning set the goal at $50,000, but the Ducks coach raised $100,000 for the Sam Day Foundation.

Cancer is also a personal issue for Lanning as his wife, Sauphia, has been cancer free since 2017. The Lanning family helped design special "Heroes" uniforms for the Ducks in 2024 to honor Sauphia's fight against cancer as well as the patients and medical professionals fighting the disease currently.

Video of Lanning's throw is below.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning hit the crossbar and @PatMcAfeeShow is donating $500K to a cancer charity of Lanning's choice and Coach is donating $50K of his own 👏 pic.twitter.com/7pI9xOid6K
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 12, 2026

What Dan Lanning Said on ESPN's College GameDay

The Oregon coach was asked about his assessment of the Ducks' performance against Boise State:

"You know, moments of positive but certainly not our best effort. And more than anything, details. A lot of details that we can clean up and play better at," said Lanning.

McAfee asked Lanning about his message to his players after the Boise State win as the Ducks continue to manage a season with College Football Playoff expectations.

"Yeah, ultimately we’ve been a part of a lot of different seasons here, right? Some where we’ve started off really hot and then played OK football. The goal is to play your best football by the end of the year and learn lessons every single week. We learned some great lessons after last week. You mentioned it, we can be the best version of ourself moving forward, and it’s about what we do today. That’s who we’re competing against today is our best version of us today," Lanning said.

The Ducks fell from No. 2 to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 Poll, and former Alabama coach Nick Saban asked Lanning about how the team can clean things up against Oklahoma State.

"Yeah, it's self-inflicted wounds, coach. Like last week, we had 10 penalties. We got to eliminate those. We got to be a team that does their job consistently every single play. We eliminate self-inflicted wounds, making decisions in special teams game, not getting penalties, those are the things that are going to lead us to success.

Oregon Favored Over Oklahoma State

According to betting odds from FanDuel Sportsbook, the Ducks are favored over the Cowboys by 24.5 points.

However, that point-spread likely doesn't instill much confidence into Oregon fans considering the Ducks' week 1 contest against Boise State. Lanning and company entered the season opener against the Boise State Broncos as 24.5 point favorites per FanDuel, and the Ducks escaped with a seven-point win in Autzen Stadium.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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