Oregon coach Dan Lanning isn’t exactly known for being a controversial quote machine, but what he said about Colorado in the preseason did turn some heads.
At Pac-12 Media Day, Lanning was asked about the Buffaloes leaving the conference for the Big XII and in effect, he said it wasn’t a big deal because Colorado hasn’t won anything since joining the league in 2009.
He’s not wrong.
But now as the Ducks prepare to meet up with Colorado, which is now 3-0 and No. 19 in the nation, Lanning was asked if he would like to clarify his comments he made back a couple of months ago.
“I don’t regret anything that I’ve said for this program. At the end of the day, obviously, I wasn’t talking about Deion’s (Sanders) team,” he said. “I was talking about the past and the future of our team. But if that serves as material for them great. I don’t think it’s going to have any bearing on the game or the success of the game.”
What might have a bearing of who wins on Saturday is the absence of the Buffaloes’ star two-way player Travis Hunter. The receiver/defensive back injured his ribs in the double overtime win against in-state rival Colorado State. Sanders said his do-everything player will be out at least three weeks. He’ll miss the Oregon game as well as next week’s contest against No. 5 USC.
Hunter was the No. 1 overall recruit a couple of years ago and Lanning recruited him hard to go first to Georgia and then Oregon before Hunter decided to play for Sanders at Jackson State.
Lanning was looking forward to watching Hunter play at Autzen Stadium and is bummed that won’t be the case now.
“He’s a special player. I absolutely hate that for Travis (that he’ll be out),” he said. “You know he’s a dynamic kid. He’s got a special personality and obviously is tremendous on the football field. He certainly gave them an edge so I hope he gets healthy soon. I hate not getting to see him play in this game because he’s meant for a stage like this that we’re going to have this Saturday.”
Colorado has plenty of other talented players left, however, and the Buffaloes are coming to Eugene to make a statement.