Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Gives USC Credit After Beating the Trojans

The No. 15 USC Trojans are 8-3 following a loss against the No. 7 Oregon Ducks. USC kept it close, but Oregon coach Dan Lanning explains the moment when the momentum shifted for the Ducks, leading to the Trojans' loss.

Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning instructs his team from the sideline against the Indiana Hoosiers during the third quarter at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The No. 15 USC Trojans dropped to an 8-3 record following a loss against the No. 7 Oregon Ducks. USC coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans put up a fight, but could not get the job done in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans lost the game 42-27, unable to keep up with the Ducks. Oregon coach Dan Lanning addressed reporters postgame about the importance of stopping USC’s run game and identified the game-changing moment that helped lead the Ducks to a win.

Nov 8, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning enters Kinnick Stadium before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Dan Lanning Explains Momentum Change For Oregon

“Special teams were special tonight. Obviously a huge punt return there from Malik,” Lanning said.

“Huge momentum swing in the game, for sure, and great opportunity for them to feel like now they have to chase some points, right? Rather than us be battling back and forth."

Dan Lanning on Preparing for USC

“I think it’s huge when you can take away a team’s strength. I think they’ve been able to run the ball really well this season, and for us to be able to stop it was, was big."

“But, you know, obviously, we want to go back and clean up some of the passing attack that they had. You know, their quarterback's special. They have some wide receivers make some plays today, contested catches. It was a physical game. From that standpoint, they were certainly going to attack the ball.”

Nov 15, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) throws against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

“Our guys were trying to battle and fight and keep them from getting the ball. And we can improve that, get better in that area, and then just go evaluate it, but proud that we can, like I said, coming in here, rushing for 180 yards and them rushing for 52, I think, tells a big story.”

“We thought takeaways would be a big piece of this game, most common denominator, and some of the losses that they’ve had so far this season, we want to be able to protect the ball. Obviously, we turned it over once as well, but I thought our ball security was really good today.”

“Those guys do as good a job as anybody of attacking the ball when it comes to their defense. But our runners ran well with the ball today.”

“Then I thought our defense certainly attacked it. You could go argue that on the fourth and down, it would have been better to knock it down and save us a couple yards rather than take away, but some big plays today for sure.”

Jul 24, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; USC head coach Lincoln Riley speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Dan Lanning Calls USC A Challenge

“Proud to go beat a good team. Alright, these guys, that’s a good team that we just played,” Lanning said. 

“A great challenge. You know, their team is obviously very explosive on offense. Ultimately, I think a lot of it comes down to the physicality we talked about. For us to be able to go out and rush for almost 180 yards and hold them to 52 rushing yards. Give an indication of what you know of how do you win this game. What’s it look like?”

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How Oregon Responded To USC’s Momentum Plays

“There's moments I thought we responded really well, and there’s moments we could certainly get better.”

Nov 18, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

“What I love was the temperament of our team, right? Regardless, we knew they were going to throw some punches, right? That’s an explosive offense. You know, they hit, they hit some big plays on us. I was really pleased with the guys be able to reset button and saying, 'let's go again'.”

“Obviously, the back-to-back, you know, pass interference calls. Those are frustrating. There’s some moments that we definitely want to have back, but ultimately, nobody ever had a long face when those moments happened. They were ready for the next play and realizing they can make an impact.”

On Penalties and Keeping Composure In Rivalry Game

“Disappointed in general, just our lack of composure at times. I thought, obviously, we were penalized in this game. Gave up 130 yards of penalties. Some of them made sense, some of them maybe didn’t. But, ultimately, there’s certainly some ones that we can go clean up and attack.”

“We’ve talked about not worrying about that, cause the fire and passion is going to come on its own. We’ve talked all week about execution, not emotion, and it’s unfortunate that showed up, but I hope that can be a learning lesson, you know, to this group, and we can take that and grow from it.”

Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning arrives with players before the game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

“You’re going to play this game, you’re going to play with juice, especially if you play here. These guys care about each other. They love it, but we got to be able to reset into the next play. We didn’t do that enough today. We did that in the second half much better.”

Oregon's Offensive Line Injuries

“You said it, we were able to keep our quarterback clean, you know, I thought he did a good job in decision making. I know he had the one turnover, but ultimately, when you have a lot of changing parts, that’s tough. Especially with the unit that has to play together and a cohesive unit, and those guys went out there and did that.” 

Dan Lanning On The Win Against USC

“We just played a really good team and we beat them. A lot of times, we play really good teams that become unranked all of a sudden, not our fault. Maybe it is our fault … All we’re worried about is playing the teams that we play and doing the job that we need to do. And we did that job today.”

“This conference is a really good conference. It’s competitive,” Lanning said.

“We got to be better on third down. You know, defensively, they had some moments there. But I thought their defense showed up big, you know, there at the end of the game to get the stop. I thought they were big there.”

“In the half for us to be able to control the middle eight, get the ball back. We didn’t do enough coming out at halftime, but we won the fourth quarter. That scenario, we wanted to be able to go attack, but overall really proud of the guys.”

Oct 28, 2023; Berkeley, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley walks on the field before a game against the California Golden Bears at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans will close out the regular season against the UCLA Bruins at home at L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Nov. 29.