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Kyle Bonagura
EUGENE, Ore. — In the immediate aftermath of Oregon‘s 51-34 win Saturday against James Madison in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Ducks coach Dan Lanning couldn’t hide his disgust.
“There’s a standard here,” he said. “There’s certainly a standard of performance. Our players know that, and they know what championship football looks like — and the second half didn’t look like that.”
The Ducks (12-1) raced out to a 34-6 halftime lead — effectively punching their ticket to the quarterfinals against No. 4 Texas Tech — but the knockout blow never came. Instead, James Madison, which initially looked outmatched in every facet of the game, outscored Oregon 28-17 in the second half.
The Dukes never came close enough to threaten the result, but the flaws they exposed in the Ducks on both sides of the ball left Lanning disappointed.
“To not be able to come out and have the same success in the second half that we had the first half is certainly disappointing, and I think our players will certainly learn from that,” Lanning said.
Asked how he would describe what emotion he was feeling, Lanning wouldn’t bite.
“I probably wouldn’t describe it,” he said.
But his terse demeanor made it clear. Lanning knew that the version of Oregon that trotted out at Autzen Stadium in the second half wasn’t one that can make a deep playoff run — and another quarterfinal exit would represent a significant disappointment for a team with much larger goals.
The second half overshadowed a performance that came with a lot of positives. Oregon amassed 514 yards of total offense, and the Ducks blocked a field goal and a punt. Quarterback Dante Moore completed 19 of 27 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns, and he added a rushing score. But he also threw two interceptions that led to 10 James Madison points.
Moore understood Lanning’s sentiment but was quick to put a different spin on it.
“The whole team understands that this wasn’t our best game, but at the end of the day, we won the football game,” Moore said. “In the playoffs, if you lose, you go home. We’re glad we won.”
Moore said he was not surprised by Lanning’s disappointment.
“Coach Lanning is our leader. We go as he goes,” Moore said. “Everybody knows how Coach Lanning is. He’s psycho. He’s going to put that fire under us, and it’s needed. We don’t want everyone to get satisfied, and we never have been all year.”
Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi shared some of Lanning’s concern.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling that we get to move on and very thankful for that,” said Lupoi, who will remain with the Ducks through their playoff run after being hired as Cal coach. “But if we played anywhere remotely close this next game [to] the way we did in the second half, then we’re going to have a disappointing feeling after the game.”
James Madison (12-2), the first Sun Belt team to reach the CFP, finished with 509 yards of total offense, including 110 rushing yards from Wayne Knight.
“In order to accomplish what we did to get here, I think there are things we should be really proud of. And obviously, ending it on this night the way it ended is not ideal,” said James Madison coach Bob Chesney, who will now shift his attention to his new job as UCLA coach. “But at the same time, it doesn’t take away from what we did during the course of the year.”
