Oregon coach Dan Lanning held his game-week presser Monday and addressed familiarity with Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith, Iapani Laloulu‘s development at center, and more. With the Ducks on a short week in advance of Friday’s contest against the Spartans, Lanning emphasized explosives in the run game and the emergence of Oregon’s linebacker room as the most important things to track for his operation.

Below are the most notable questions and quotes from Lanning’s media availability as well as my thoughts at the end.

Opening Statement:

“Quick turnaround but guys are attacking it really well. Getting in front of Autzen will be a good opportunity for us. Michigan State is a good team and really well coached so I’m excited for this week.”

On playing a familiar face in Smith:

“Definitely some similar pieces. They always do a good job challenging you in the run game. Still really sound defensively and do some things that challenge you.”

On what cornerback Jabbar Muhammad brings to the table at 5’10”:

“His knowledge of the game and his understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each call. He moves himself around and makes plays based on the weakness of the coverage.”

On what he sees in MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles:

“He’s a really talented player. He’s able to keep plays alive and make things happen with his legs. They take a lot of shots down the field so those are the two that stick out the most.”

On the emergence of Oregon’s linebackers this year:

“A lot of credit goes to those guys and the work they’ve put in. Our scheme isn’t the easiest thing for linebackers so that’s a credit to coach (Brian) Michalowski for teaching that.”

On Laloulu’s development at center:

“I thought he played really well. There were several guys who had good games but he looked comfortable. We’d love to keep him there but things come up and we have to respond accordingly.”

On tight end Terrance Ferguson’s recovery:

“He practiced today. He’ll be ready to roll.”

On how he assesses the Ducks’ ground attack through four games:

“I’d say there are positives and negatives. We’re still waiting to break some second level tackles that can create more explosive run plays but when you run well it opens up everything else in your offense.”

On cornerback Nikko Reed’s emergence as a starter:

“He’s shown a level of consistency. He and Dontae (Manning)are rolling quite a bit at corner and they’ve both earned those opportunities.”

On when/if tight end Kenyon Sadiq might start to take snaps from other tight ends:

“Every one of our tight ends brings a lot of strengths. I like the way that we use Terrance as well as Pat (Herbert) but when you use a lot of them it makes it hard for the defense to key in on one thing.”

On defensive lineman A’Mauri Washington getting snaps in Oregon’s offensive backfield:

“He’s big. He’s fast. He likes to hit. All those things are fun to see on the field so I think he can help us.”

This will be an interesting game on a few fronts. First is having the game on Friday after the Ducks wrapped up their last game against UCLA close to midnight on Saturday (a road game).

The other is having coached against Smith each of the last three seasons and the familiarity that brings. It sounded like Lanning has a lot of respect for how Smith operates his team and what they bring to the table.

It was good to hear Ferguson will be full go this week as he took a nasty hit against the Bruins last weekend. I also thought his comments on the Ducks’ linebackers rang true as fans have been hoping for growth from that unit since Lanning took over and it seems to be happening for real this year.

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