“Saturdays to me are sacred. They belong to college football,” says a gritty Dan Lanning, riding high on a 3-0 streak into the season. However, following a dominant 34-14 victory over Northwestern over the weekend, college football saw a disappointed face heading towards the locker room. Although the Ducks won the game, the lack of action in the fourth quarter is what has gotten the head coach all riled up.

“You just get when you know you have better and you can do better,” Dan Lanning got candid at the Joel Klatt show. “You get disappointed when you don’t reach that. And that’s like that’s our job as coaches to get the best out of our players.” It’s not about the lack of explosive plays but rather the completeness of the game. 45 minutes into the game, the Ducks are dominating with 31-0. But the next 15 minutes? The Wildcats added 14 points, while Oregon scrambled to chip in three points.

Northwestern outgained the Ducks with 174-47 yards, staging a comeback, slicing through the Ducks’ defense that had them limited to 139 total yards. Lanning continued. “We found out some things about our team and moments of adversity, but when you have to convert third and eighths and third and elevens consistently throughout the day.”

Lanning’s post-game presser drilled down into the fourth-quarter performance. “We had the ball, you know, tied to the red area and have to settle…not able to punch that in, we give up two scores there late.” Northwestern’s final two drives were a major burn to the Ducks. 14 points in a couple of minutes. Wildcats QB Preston Stone threw a 40-yard pass to Drew Wagner to chip in the first score, while a 79-yard touchdown run by Dahun Reeder took the score to 14 points.

However, an improvement in one major hiccup got Lanning’s hard-earned approval. Nasty penalties. Against Montana State, Dante Moore’s offense racked up 253 rushing yards but accumulated seven penalties for 54 yards. And Oklahoma State? Treaded on similar murky waters. Six penalties. The head coach fired off a “clean it up” order, and the roster marched through obediently.

Against Northwestern, the Ducks might have given up the fourth-quarter plays, a zero penalty box score gleamed through. So, what’s the secret sauce? Oregon’s offensive tackle Isiah World drops the scoop. “But just going into the mindset and looking over the film and having like a next-play mindset, or ‘flash stick mindset’ as we say in the O-line room, and just focusing on where our feet are at and the next play ahead.”

The bottom line: At Eugene, Dan Lanning has a standard for his roster, which was not fully achieved last weekend. Even Wildcats coach Davis Braun appreciated Duck’s explosiveness. “We got our bu–s kicked by a really good football team today,” he said. But Dan Lanning’s frown is enough for the roster to get at the practice reps again and buckle up. The in-state matchup against the Beavers is there, but the White Out Tradition is waiting eagerly at Beaver Stadium.

Coming up next: Ducks hit the road

The next hottest clash coming up for Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks is against the Drew Allar-led Penn State. September 27 will mark the head coach’s first trip to University Park. Lanning said. “That’s part of what’s been so exciting for me coming to the Big Ten. Getting to play in venues that we’re getting to play in. Penn State will be an unbelievable venue; Coach Franklin’s done an unbelievable job there. Obviously, they have a really talented team, so it’s going to be a fun challenge for us for sure.”

James Franklin has not had much luck in winning over elite teams. Defeating Oregon and Ohio State is on his laundry list. Rewriting his last campaign’s narrative, which saw major hiccups against top teams, will be his priority. Last campaign, Oregon won 45-37 against Penn State in the B1G Championship game.

In addition to that, Lanning’s roster hasn’t yet played a challenging competitor, with inexperienced Dante Moore leading the offense. The clash against Penn State will witness that as well. According to FanDuel, Penn State is a -4.5 favorite over Oregon.