Ducks enter ‘playoff mode’ during holidays ahead of CFP quarterfinal

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If you’re a fan of the OregonDucks and worried their focus might be off as the holidays approach, it would be understandable to think that way.

One only has to look at last season to come up with an example of a team losing some focus at the end of the season. The Ducks hadn’t played in an actual game in nearly a month and the holidays fell right in the middle of preparing for the Rose Bowl and Ohio State.

The result was a 41-21 loss, where the Ducks were down 34-0 in the second quarter and never really gave themselves a chance.

But this season has different circumstances with the Ducks having already played a game in the middle of December and having just over a week to prepare for the Orange Bowl and the opponent in Texas Tech. According to Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, the team is laser-focused, having that first-round game with James Madison under their belt and celebrating the Winter holidays shortly after that win over Washington. During that time, players got away from the facilities, with some going home, and got a break from football for a couple of days.

Now, with Christmas landing in the 11 days between Oregon’s Round 1 and Quarterfinal games, the time for off-days is gone, though.

“There’s not really that opportunity. And our players bought into that when we hopped into playoff mode,” Lanning said. “We said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna kind of take our break now at the beginning,’ and I think it was a good reset for them.”

The Ducks took a different approach to their time off this year, trying to better figure out a way to avoid rust build-up and keep the players locked in while also valuing their necessary time away from football. While this next stretch of days will feature Christmas, Oregon players are excited to spend the holidays with their teammates and coaches, focusing on the task at hand.

“We’ll be working,” Lanning said. “You know, they’ll get some time just right around Christmas, and we’ll get some time to fellowship with each other. But beyond that, it’s going to be really intense and focused on Texas Tech.”

In the end, players know that this is what they signed up for. For Duck fans, all they want for Christmas is a win over Texas Tech.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon enters ‘playoff mode’ during holidays ahead of CFP quarterfinal

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