In one of the more sobering afternoons of the Dan Lanning era, Oregon was thoroughly outcoached and out-executed in its top-10 showdown with Indiana. What was billed as a statement opportunity at Autzen quickly devolved into a frustrating display of inefficiency and stubbornness, capped by a 30-20 defeat that exposed glaring schematic and strategic flaws on both sides of the ball.
“Certainly a disappointing result,” Lanning said afterward. “We didn’t play well enough to go win that game and Indiana certainly did. They’re a really well-coached team. They had a great plan. They were able to create pressure throughout and we struggled on third down, struggled to protect the quarterback. Ultimately, they were more prepared for us in this moment.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Offensive game plan: vanilla and predictable
Oregon’s offensive approach lacked imagination from the start. Too many bubble screens and horizontal plays forced receivers to make defenders miss behind the line of scrimmage—something that rarely happened. The Ducks couldn’t block on the perimeter, leaving those screens dead on arrival and repeatedly putting the offense “behind the sticks.” Against a disciplined Indiana defense, that approach was doomed…