Dan Lanning calls Indiana one of ‘best-coached teams’ in football
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A lot of teams in college football have either great talent or great coaching. It’s the ones who have both who tend to be elite. When you get to the point the OregonDucks are in their season, the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, you’re going to face an opponent that definitely has both.
Indiana has both, and that’s the challenge the Ducks face when they play the Hoosiers again, but this time in the Peach Bowl on Friday night with a trip to the national title game on the line.
“You watch this team on film, obviously, we got to experience it firsthand, this is one of, if not, the best coached teams in college football,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “They play with unbelievable technique. They challenge you in every facet, in special teams, defensively, and offensively.”
That’s the coaching part. As for the talent portion of the formula, the Hoosiers are not lacking. It all starts with the quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who happens to be the current Heisman Trophy winner. Not only that, but the Indiana signal caller is coming off one of the all-time Rose Bowl performances in the 38-3 defeat of Alabama. He was 14-of-16 passing for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
“They’ve got great quarterback play, which I think is a secret to being in this position that they’re in,” Lanning said. “And you watch this group, they play together. They’ve got great answers. They do what they do extremely well.
“And on defense, they challenge you in every way. They give you a lot of different looks. But this is just a group that’s obviously playing their best football now, you saw that in their most recent game, and again, just honored to get the opportunity to go share a field with coach and the job that he’s done there.”
In the first meeting, the Ducks could just muster up one offensive touchdown against that defense. In order to make a return trip to Miami, they have to figure out how to score on that defense before it’s too late.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning says Hoosiers are one of the best coached teams around
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