Oregon had as flawless an opening day as a team can hope for on Saturday.

The Ducks opened the 2023 season at home against Portland State and walked away with an 81-7 victory that set a modern program record for points scored in a game. The defense responded to an uneven start and put the clamps on the Vikings. And with Oregon running away, coach Dan Lanning and the staff got to go deep into the reserves to get young guys valuable reps.

After the game, Lanning met with reporters to break things down. Here’s everything he said:

Opening statement

“I hear the Duck’s still doing pushups.

“It was a good day out there today. Got to see us execute at a high level. That’s the expectation for us. We talk about a standard. That’s how we’ll measure ourselves — based on the standard, not necessarily on the scoreboard. Certainly some things we can clean up and some things we can improve on, but overall was glad to see Autzen bouncing today. Got great energy from the crowd. Got a lot of players some experience that’s gonna be definitely needed throughout the season.”

On the lack of penalties

“I’ll have to go back and look at a few things but ultimately we talk about not having any pre-snap, any post-snap penalties in this game. I thought there was one that was really poor on our part. Some aggressive penalties might happen in between the whistles, but ultimately I thought the operation piece was pretty smooth.”

On how the team got better

“We’re getting to play another team that we had to go out and tackle break blocks, make blocks, and get off blocks. I think any time you get a chance to play football against someone else it gives you an opportunity. We aren’t really measuring our standard based on the scoreboard, we’re measuring based on our standard. I think at times you saw a team that met that standard. We’re going to go back and look at the film and see some things that we could do better. So, any day that you get to play football is a good day for us.”

On the play of the quarterbacks

“When you operate with efficiency and take care of the ball, I think obviously good things can happen. We did a good job taking care of the ball today. I thought we called plays that allowed us to get completions. A lot of times you can let the wideouts, tight ends, and the backs do things with the ball after they get it. So, when we’re operating at a high level from that standpoint, you’re going to see success on offense.”

On ILB Bryce Boettcher

“Bryce has been really productive through our fall scrimmages, through our fall practices. He’s a guy who really loves Oregon and it means a little bit to him stepping on that field. I think you see that in the way that he plays. He’s earned that right. He’s earned that opportunity. But, he knows he has to battle for it every day.”

On the defensive response to Portland State’s second drive

“We had two critical errors on that drive and then really bad execution in the red area on that last touchdown. But, ultimately I think what you saw is when you don’t do your job, bad things can happen. We had a couple guys not do their job early in that series and it led to a long drive. I think we all settled down after that and realized, ‘Hey, all I’ve got to do is my part, my 1/11th, and the rest will take care f itself.”

On the offensive line

“Obviously we were able to run the ball well today. I’m more concerned with how we were finishing on every play. Were we chasing the ball? What’s the finish look like? Were we getting movement the way we need to get it upfront? Overall, I thought you saw a lot of guys out there go out and play at a high level.”

On how the defense challenged the offense in camp

“They both play off each other. Iron sharpens iron in practice, and I think we certainly had some good back and forth in fall camp. I think everybody in that locker room right now knows that they’re not satisfied with the result and there are some places that we can be better. I expect us to operate with that sort of efficiency throughout the year. I also know we are going to play some teams that are going to make it difficult for us to operate that way in the future. So, we gotta work to keep challenging ourselves and making sure that our standard is the secret to our success.”

On Emar’rion Winston drawing a start

“Playmaker that’s smart and understands his role. Takes his job really serious. Does the extra work. He’s done a lot this offseason. I don’t think anyone in our progrum is surprised to see him out on the field for us just because of the way he works every single day in practice.”

On RB Noah Whittington being held out

“I’m not going to talk about anyone who didn’t play. Noah has done everything right for us and he’s doing a good job. We’re just going to be smart with our players.”

On how they’ll prepare for Texas Tech

“I want our team to get off their feet. We’re going to disseminate and break through the information so they can get it. I certainly want to be able to sit down and watch this game and get an idea of what we’re about to face. I know it’s a really good team, and they have a quarterback that when he starts, they win. And I know they are really good at home. So, it’s going to be a really tough challenge going to Lubbock in a good environment. I know they are coming off a road game when they come back, so I am excited to sit down and be able to evaluate it. We’ll start breaking them down as soon as we can.”

On the freshmen getting onto the field

“What I did see today and in the fall is a group that wants to compete. They understood that if they step on the field, they’re viewed no differently than a starter. There’s a standard of excellence that we expect and I think a lot of guys tried to perform up to that level. The only way you’re going to get better in football is if you’re playing. Those are going to be guys that we’re gonna be relying on later in the season. Some of those guys we’ll be relying on every single game. It’s good for them to get some early opportunities out there on the field and we’ll see what they do with it going forward.”

On the receiver play

“I think they caught the ball well. Part of what makes it work for the quarterback is when the ball is thrown a guys way, they catch it. We got some guys that caught the ball well and when they got in in their hands they were able to create some yards after catch. I don’t think you’ll go out there and say any of those throws or routes we were asking those guys to run today were remarkably tough. It was about doing the simple things better. Those guys did the simple things better today.”

On QB Ty Thompson

“I think that’s a sign of what Ty’s capable of. Ty performed exactly how we expected him to perform today. He did a really good job. He started his drive off 3-for-3, then made some tough runs, played with toughness, and with a quarterback, that’s what you love to see. I think that he proved to everyone that he can operate in this offense really well.”

On whether he takes pride in the 81-point scoring record

“Not really. We won the game. I’m glad we won the game. I’m not really in for stats. I’m in for Ws. Wins for us come based on performance. I want to go back and evaluate the film and see how we can perform better. That’s what we really want to evaluate. We’re not interested in who had the best scoring offense, best scoring defense, we’re interested in winning games. That’s our objective.”

On QB Bo Nix

“Ultimately, I thought he did a great job taking care of the ball. We weren’t able to connect on a few of our deep shots like we have in the past, so I think we’ve got to get in a rhythm there. Overall, he ran the offense well. He got to a third down early in the game and was able to convert. I think there’s some moments there that he did everything we expect him to do.”

On the receivers creating yards after the catch

“That’s something that’s really important. That’s something we’ve been stressing since our first scrimmage and you saw some of that today. That will be something we have to continue to work on.”