The Oregon Ducks secured a massive victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, which was a massive resumé booster for head coach Dan Lanning.
While the game had some amazing moments and some low points as well, one of the takeaways was the coaching performance from Lanning. Some may recall the bold onside kick to help get the Ducks into scoring position, but the most memorable takeaway happened as a decision on the sideline.
Late in the game, Oregon was whistled for a penalty after having too many players on the field. It seemed innocuous at first but it was actually incredibly helpful.
you NEED to watch how genius this is 👀
:10 left, Oregon calls a timeout
they intentionally add a 12th man late to ensure no big gain occurs
ball is snapped, no big gain
obviously it’s a penalty BUT
1) :04 ticks off clock
2) no big gain:06 left
only time for 1 play
WIN pic.twitter.com/2MouQanBK8
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 13, 2024
The basic concept is simple: Oregon’s defense was on the field with 10 seconds remaining on the clock. Lanning called a timeout and instead of putting 11 players back on the field, 12 took the field instead.
The idea is that with an extra defender out there for Oregon, the Ohio State offense would have lots of difficulty gaining any significant yardage at a 12-to-11 disadvantage.
Of course, the Ducks knew they would get a penalty for this violation after an illegal substitution. But the real purpose was to make the clock tick some more during the time Ohio State had to attempt a play against the defense with an added player.
Suddenly, with only six seconds remaining in the game, the Buckeyes had time for just one play. This did not go well for Ohio State at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.
OREGON – OHIO STATE: Will Howard’s baffling decision to scramble as time expired in was hard to watch
Dan Lanning confirms the 12 men penalty was intentional: pic.twitter.com/VPpi8eMAWj
— Tsunami (@Tsunami_TS) October 15, 2024
When asked about the decision, Lanning spoke about it. He all but confirmed:
“There was a timeout before that. We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations. There are some situations that don’t show up very often in college football. But this is one that obviously was something that we had worked on. So you could see the result.”
This was an amazing exploitation of the illegal substation rule by Lanning and Oregon’s staff. Brilliant work!
