Dan Lanning is the best college football coach in the country when it comes to Xs and Os. He repeatedly leans on unique rules to force his opponent into uncomfortable situations and Saturday’s win at Michigan on Saturday was not the exception.
The Ducks baited the Wolverines into a first down during a crucial moment in the third quarter.
Oregon is the top-ranked team in college football for a reason. There are some programs that win games in spite of their head coach because the roster is just that talented. That is not the case in Eugene.
Lanning is 9-0 in his third year as head coach and has a tangible impact on the outcome.
The NCAA changed its rules earlier this season after a unique clock management decision helped the Ducks to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes. Lanning put 12 players on the field to draw a penalty during the closing moments of the fourth quarter and later admitted it he did so on purpose.
This most recent instance of Lanning’s brilliance was not quite as extreme. And if Michigan was better coached, it would not have made a difference. Alas, the Wolverines were not able to figure it out.
Oregon lined up to punt on 4th-and-4 near midfield with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. A defensive stop gave the momentum right back to the home team, which had just scored a touchdown.
The crowd at the Big House came alive for what appeared to be a turning point in the game until defensive lineman Trey Pierce messed it up. He lined up in front of the long snapper, which drew a five-yard penalty and gave the Ducks a fresh set of downs.
Dan Lanning out scheming Sherrone Moore and stealing a 1st down on special teams 😭 It’s incredible to see his attention to detail every week pic.twitter.com/Q8B2R3kv73
— Lucy🦆 (@upthascoducks) November 3, 2024
It was an extremely dumb penalty that Michigan could’ve and should’ve avoided with explicit instructions not to line up over the long snapper. The coaching staff deserves a large portion of the blame. Pierce must also know better.
With that being said, Dan Lanning also deserves credit here. Although spread punt formations are not a new thing by any stretch of the imagination, the awkward punt formation baits the receiving team into a penalty for illegal formation by tricking the defense to line up on top of the lone down lineman, the long snapper.
Oregon does not use this formation for every punt so Lanning rolled it out for this specific situation and it worked. A well-coached team would not fall for the shenanigans, but Michigan is clearly not one of those teams.