OregonDucks head coach Dan Lanning originally believed a layoff of nearly a month would be beneficial for his team as they prepared for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl a year ago. As the No. 1 seed, it was felt that the Ducks could sit back rest, and wait as the Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers duked it out to try and get to the quarterfinals in Pasadena.
An old-fashioned beat down tends to change some minds.
Oregon came into the Rose Bowl flat and it showed as the Buckeyes avenged a defeat earlier in the year with a 41-21 win over the Ducks. The final score is a bit misleading as Ohio State scored the first 34 points of the game to cruise, and to win the national championship eventually. Because of the slow start, it’s not hard to believe that Oregon acumulated some rust in their 25 days off last year, while the Buckeyes were able to knock that rust off in a first-round game against the Vols.
According to Lanning, the playoff schedule works much more to their favor this time around, as the Ducks will host No. 12 seed James Madison in a first-round game at Autzen Stadium Dec. 20, just 21 days after their last game against Washington. Mainly, this time off has allowed his players to focus on wrapping up school and getting away from football for a few days before jumping back into the swing of things.
“There are some benefits to how this has played out, potentially this year, just with class wrapping up. A lot of those things have been a piece of this that our players are dealing with, finishing up classes, finals, giving them an opportunity to have a little bit of a reset,” he said.
Oregon will use this time off to hopefully get healthier and have the team as close to 100 percent as possible to make the playoff run. Players such as receivers Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant, Jr. have been out for some time. It’s unknown whether they’ll be available for the first playoff game.
“This past week for us was really more lifts and just an opportunity to attack the classroom and get a little bit of a break from us, which I think is a positive,” Lanning said. “And then be able to reset in this coming week into what it’ll look like moving forward.”
If we’ve learned anything about Lanning over his years in Eugene, it’s that he is more than willing to self-assess and change things if he thinks there is a better way of doing them. Last year, the Ducks probably learned some valuable lessons about how to prepare and utilize a three-week break before a playoff game. This year, they’ll do things a bit differently.
“Certainly some lessons learned,” Lanning said. “I won’t share all those, but taking a little bit of a different approach to some of the things we attacked this season.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks adjusting prep schedule after learning from 2024 CFP bye
