Lanning takes blame for Oregon's blowout: 'Didn't get our team prepared'

Head coach Dan Lanning is shouldering the blame after Oregon's undefeated season came to a screeching halt Wednesday in a 41-21 blowout loss to No. 8 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl.

"We ran into a great team tonight, and we just didn't play our best," Lanning said, according to Ducks Wire's Zachary Neel. "I just don't think we had a good enough plan as coaches tonight."

Lanning added: "They clicked tonight, we didn't. I didn't get our team prepared."

The Ducks dropped their first game of the season against a Buckeyes team they had beaten 32-31 in October.

Lanning refused to let Oregon's CFP schedule be an excuse for the loss, saying: "This was the road that we had to travel, and they did it better than us tonight."

Oregon missed a pair of starters on offense Wednesday in receiver Evan Stewart and running back Jordan James. Lanning said postgame that Stewart was limited in practice throughout the week and tweaked an injury before the contest that forced him out. James didn't return in the second half due to a head injury.

The Buckeyes piled up the score and totaled 500 yards on a Ducks defense that allowed 17.8 points and 301.8 yards per contest across 2024.

Ohio State freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith recorded seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns against the Ducks. Lanning described the first-year star as "NFL ready" after his dominant performance.

Oregon struggled to establish a ground attack against the nation's stingiest scoring defense, tallying minus-23 rushing yards, which included quarterback Dillon Gabriel being sacked five times for minus-43 yards.

However, Gabriel made his mark in what will be the final game of his college career. After throwing two scores versus the Buckeyes, the Hawaiian is tied with Case Keenum for the most passing touchdowns in an FBS career with 155.