Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning didn’t mince words while dissing the Buffs in a pregame speech to his players Saturday.
“They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins,” Lanning said in the locker room before the Ducks took the field against Colorado. "There's a difference."
“This game ain't gonna be played in Hollywood, it’s being played on grass,” he added.
A clip of the speech aired on the ABC broadcast during the second quarter when Oregon had already mounted a sizable lead over CU.
In it, Lanning also made a blunt prediction about the Buffs, who visited Eugene with a 3-0 record and a No. 19 ranking: “The Cinderella story is over.”
Oregon carried a 35-0 lead into halftime at Autzen Stadium.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning ripped the @CUBuffsFootball team to shreds in his pregame speech in the locker room. So far everything he said has come true. @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/ufMP7nfXdx
— Lionel Bienvenu (@lionelbienvenu) September 23, 2023
In a brief interview for the broadcast at halftime, Lanning added: "I hope all of those people who have been watching every week are watching today" – an apparent jab at all of the attention on CU through its fast start to the year.
CU, of course, had grabbed local and national headlines throughout the first three weeks of the season. Head coach Deion Sanders’ unconventional swagger and coaching style, coupled with Heisman-caliber play from his son and quarterback Shedeur Sanders as well as two-way star Travis Hunter, had taken the college football world by storm.
If anything could cause the hype train to come screeching to a halt, it was the Ducks’ pounding of the Buffaloes from the jump. Oregon outgained CU 378-21 in the first half.
Lanning made headlines over the summer for taking jabs at Colorado’s relevance – or lack thereof – to the Pac-12 Conference when news broke that the Buffs were leaving the conference for the Big 12.
“I don’t remember them winning anything,” he said back in July of a CU team that boats just one winning season as a member of the Pac-12.
While bulletin board material has proven to be a motivator for Colorado this season, Lanning said earlier this week that he had no regrets about those comments, according to a report by Ducks Wire.
