Dan Lanning assesses Oregon's pass-rush ability through two weeks
No one has more than three quarterback pressures yet. The Ducks only have two sacks in two games. After Dan Lanning’s Georgia defense had 49 in 15 games a year ago — the sixth-best per-game mark in football — is there any concern about the Ducks’ ability to get after the passer?
Lanning was asked on Wednesday to assess the Ducks’ performance so far in pass-rush situations when he met with reporters. The Ducks host No. 12 BYU and quarterback Jaren Hall on Saturday. Finding a way to disrupt the opposing offense always goes a long way toward helping Team X win Game Y, but for an Oregon team looking to build some momentum, capitalizing on those moments when they present themselves will tell Lanning a lot.
“We’d obviously love to be in the backfield a little bit more but if the ball’s getting out quick, you’re not going to have 15 sacks,” Lanning said. “To me, it’s about winning the game, so I’m not a stat counter. I don’t care how many sacks we have. I care how many wins we have. Certain times you play teams that are going to allow you to get those. When the ball is put on the perimeter a little bit more, you’re not going to get those opportunities, but what we can’t do is miss sack opportunities when we have them. So, if we have a guy wrapped up and we don’t finish on him, that’s on us. There’s a couple of those moments we’ve seen in the first two games.”
BYU might present more opportunities.
About a third of Hall’s pass attempts so far this season have gone at least 10 yards downfield. A year ago, he was a quarterback who really hurt teams with the deep ball. Injuries to his top receiver options have limited the ability to do much of that through two games in 2022, but Hall is still a guy, Lanning says, that “looks to throw it and keeps his eyes downfield.”
That creates a little more time for defenders to win their one-on-ones.
Does Lanning think the Cougars will look to stretch things vertically or follow a gameplan that has previously worked against the Ducks this year — peppering them with quick-hitters to the perimeter to neutralize the pass rush, a la Georgia?
“They do take more shots downfield than a lot of teams,” he said. “That being said, they’re going to hold on to the ball a little bit more to do that. How often do they do that in this game? I don’t know.”
We’ll find out Saturday.