Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Breaks Down Oklahoma State, Drew Mestemaker Ahead of Saturday’s Matchup

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It doesn’t sound as if Dan Lanning is overlooking the Cowboys because of his first run-in against Eric Morris.

Back on Sept. 24, 2022, Lanning found himself in a dogfight with Washington State, where Morris was the offensive coordinator with Cam Ward at quarterback.

The Cougars scored a touchdown with 6:42 to play to go up 34-22, but the Ducks stormed back and won 44-41.

“The first time that we bumped into him was one of my early games here when he was at Washington State,” Lanning said Monday night. “He was the offensive coordinator there, and we were down in a crazy environment there, kind of similar in a lot of ways to the game we just played against Boise State — even more so. I think we were down 12 points in that game, and Cam Ward was playing for him at that point.

“(Morris) does a lot of stuff that’s disruptive on offense, that’s tough. He can create explosive plays. They thrive off him. They throw the ball extremely well. He’s even improved in the performance when it comes to the run game and what they will create in the run game now. But I always thought he’s done a good job from that perspective.”

Ward finished having thrown for 375 yards and two touchdowns while being sacked five times and also throwing two picks.

Morris’ first go at showing the world his Oklahoma State offense didn’t go to plan. Highly touted quarterback Drew Mestemaker threw for 241 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions this past weekend, as the Cowboys scored just 10 points and lost to Tulsa for a second straight season.

Oregon was reportedly (per Drew Mestemaker) was in contact with Mestemaker when he he the portal this offseason. Lanning said he wasn’t involved in that but heaped plenty of praise on OSU’s QB.

“I was never talking to Drew,” Lanning said. “That doesn’t mean that people didn’t communicate or were aware that he was in the portal. I’m sure any good player, we’re aware of that’s in the portal, but I think that it was pretty quick that he was gonna be going, following his coach there.

“I will say this: Drew is an unbelievable player. You see his arm strength show up. He’s a guy that can stand flat-footed and throw a 60-yard bomb, so he’s got a really strong arm. They have a really strong passing attack. There’s a reason they were the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation last year at North Texas. That shows up, and he’s obviously a guy that makes that tick for them.”

Oregon are heavy favorites coming to Stillwater on Saturday. Per FanDuel, the Ducks are 22.5-point favorites with an over/under of 57.5, meaning the sportsbook expects this game to end something like 40-18 in the Ducks’ favor.

Had the Cowboys beaten Tulsa, Oregon would still almost certainly be the favorite, but going into the season, people were wondering how close the Cowboys could keep this game. Although the Cowboys lost to the Golden Hurricane, it doesn’t sound as if Lanning is skimming over the Pokes.

“I don’t necessarily put a ton of stock into they didn’t win the game,” Lanning said. “You look at the scheme, and it’s been effective everywhere he’s been, whether its Incarnate Word, whether it’s Washington State, whether it’s North Texas, and now at Oklahoma State. They’ve created a lot of points wherever they’ve been. It’s a first team. When you have 91 new players, I imagine that’s tough to get that figured out in a short amount of time, especially when you don’t see what it looks like until you really get on the game field.

“They also had some really tough situations throughout the game. They had the ball down at the goal line. They were about to punch it in to have a score, and they don’t get it. They had some costly turnovers that happened throughout the game. The score could be completely different given a couple different situations.”