Dan Lanning anticipates Autzen Stadium to be electric for playoff game
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Ever since the College Football Playoff announced it would be going to a 12-team format and that first round games would be held on campus, Oregon football fans wondered what that would look like at Autzen Stadium.
That wondering will end Dec. 20 when the 5-seed Ducks host the 12-seed James Madison. The winner moves on to the Orange Bowl to play the 4-seed Texas Tech.
Oregon fans are expected to pack Autzen Stadium to the hilt and make what is already a crazy atmosphere even crazier in the playoff scenario. While much of the student body may be heading home for winter break, Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning isn’t worried about fans not showing up. He thinks Autzen will be an 11 for James Madison.
“I don’t think I have to create a pitch. Our fans are going to show out for this game,” he said. “There’s zero doubt in my mind that they’ll be there. If it’s not a student, it’ll be another Oregon fan that’s in there, but they don’t want to miss the opportunity. To see the one playoff game in Autzen Stadium, that hasn’t happened before. So I think we’ll have a lot of fans there ready to support it and ready to see that myself.”
The game with the Dukes will be held in primetime (4:30 pm PST) and televised on TNT and streamed HBO Max. It’s going to be another opportunity to show the country, and recruits for that matter, how electric Oregon’s home can be. The only question is what the weather will be like for a mid-December game in Eugene.
Again, Lanning isn’t concerned.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere. You know, the 10-day forecast around here never necessarily holds true, so we’ll see what that looks like as we prepare ourselves,” he said. “But one thing I know I can count on is our awesome fans to make this a really fun experience for our student athletes. And we went out there on senior day, and I remember talking to some of our players saying, ‘I hope this isn’t the last opportunity we get to play on this field.’ Well, now all those seniors get an opportunity to do it one more time here, which is really special.”
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning isn’t concerned about the Autzen atmosphere for playoff game
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