Dan Lanning didn’t expect to clean the mess created by Kirk Herbstreit’s blunder prediction. Yet, the man he was, he apologized to Pat McAfee and his crew. The Oregon Ducks (9-1) only lost to No. 2 Indiana. However, Herbstreit’s on-air blunder, in which he claimed Iowa had defeated them, compelled the head coach to try to rectify the situation.

Oregon’s head coach, Dan Lanning, joined the November 21 episode of Pat McAfee Show via video call. During the appearance, Ty Schmit sarcastically asked if he could thank Kirk Herbstreit for blowing up the Iowa-Oregon game. 

“I sent an apology to Pat about that. I knew, Ty, that would bother you,” Dan Lanning responded with a chuckle.

Herbstreit, on the November 6 episode of the Pat McAfee show with a husky voice, said, “Hey, shhh, Oregon loses Saturday.” Herbstreit displayed unwavering confidence in Iowa that night. It’s as if their victory as a visiting team in November was a foregone conclusion. He even predicted the game 16-15 in favor of the Hawkeyes.

However, what happened in the game was the opposite. It was Oregon that dominated the game until the Hawkeyes took the lead (16-15) with under two minutes remaining on the clock. In the last few seconds, Atticus Sappington scored a 39-yard field goal, winning the game by 18-16.

Following the win, McAfee had Herbstreit connected via video call and jokingly blamed him for ruining Iowa’s game, alerting Oregon. Kirk refused to take the blame and defended himself, claiming he had given almost everything. He also said that he would retire if Oregon hadn’t rallied.

“I would’ve been like, ‘I’m done. Iowa knocks off Oregon, goodbye,” he added.

While Kirk Herbstreit predicted the Ducks’ rushing offense needs improvement, they rushed for 261 yards as a team, averaging 7.3 yards per carry against Iowa’s defense. The Ducks’ offensive line kept their quarterback, Dante Moore, upright throughout the game, while the Ducks’ defense caused havoc.

Dan Lanning’s Oregon and Lincoln Riley’s USC race for a playoff chance

The No. 7 Oregon and No. 15 USC will have an unofficial playoff knockout game this Saturday. The stakes are high for both teams; however, the Ducks remain favorites at home. Instead of a regular rivalry game, both teams face a do-or-die situation, as the losing team gets eliminated from playoff contention.

The Ducks do have a chance if they lose, but their resume doesn’t please the eye, and they should only rely on the results of the other games. Their best wins came against Penn State and Iowa, with Iowa surprisingly the more impressive of the two.

On the other hand, the 10-point loss to Indiana damaged all the credibility they had earned, and if they add one more loss against USC, Oregon will be placed among the large pool of two-loss teams, with an uncertain future.

Likewise, USC is already a two-loss team (8-2). They have two other two-loss contenders ranked ahead of them: No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama, No. 12 Utah, No. 13 Miami, and No. 14 Vanderbilt, along with No. 11 BYU. This clearly shows the competitive landscape they face.

With that being said, the best chance for USC to enter the playoff is with a 10-2 record, which puts them in a must-win game against Oregon.