Dan Lanning admits he got ‘a little petty’ about USC, but ‘they’ve taken plenty of shots at us’

Dan Lanning knows he went over the line with his comments about USC, and he’s fine with it.

The Oregon Ducks coach had plenty to be mad about on Saturday when his quarterback, Dante Moore, was carted off the field and taken to the hospital following a brutal late hit to the head from USC linebacker Desman Stephens at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Stephens, who was seen celebrating and laughing as Moore lay prone on the ground, was ejected for targeting.

Oregon won the game, 41-27, but afterward, Lanning lit up his opponent over the “disgusting play.”

“Our guys respect the game,” Lanning said. “I don’t think you’d ever see that from our players. I don’t think you’d ever see that from our coaches. And, again, I don’t think that’s necessarily an indictment on [USC head coach Lincoln Riley], because I can’t speak to what I didn’t see. And I know he was quick to voice his concern for our players. So, I appreciate that from him.

“But it’s a disgusting play. You don’t want to see it happen. It’s disappointing that it happened. I’m praying that our player’s healthy, and I’m praying that their player can learn from that situation. Because that’s not a moment you want to be a part of.”

The Oregon coach then took it a step further, taking shots at USC’s attendance issues and the quality of their football program.

“I watched three of [USC’s] TV games; I haven’t seen a game packed yet,” Lanning explained. “But we were here; it was packed tonight. So, I guess when the Ducks show up, that’s how you fill out the Coliseum.

“Three wins against these guys,” Lanning added about his 3-0 career record against USC. “I guess if you’re interested in winning football games, and you’re from this area, you should go to Oregon. If you want to go to a Chris Brown concert, go here.”

On Monday, Lanning appeared on Wake Up Barstool, where Dave Portnoy mentioned those comments. Lanning admitted he was “a little petty” but remained adamant about his point about the disparity between the two programs.

“Full disclosure that was a little petty but they’ve taken plenty of shots at us. In the off-season, there was some shots taken and somebody asked me what matters most and I said winning. And that’s where I like to go point back to is when we get the opportunity to go play them… https://t.co/XUmH78JBEM pic.twitter.com/d78juuJTl5

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 28, 2026

“Full disclosure, that was a little petty, but they’ve taken plenty of shots at us,” said Lanning. “In the off-season, there were some shots taken, and in the offseason, there were some shots taken. Somebody asked me what matters most, and I said winning. And that’s where I like to go point back to is, when we get the opportunity to go play them, we’ve won.”

Lanning added that his seemingly random reference to Chris Brown was because the singer was playing a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.

USC announced Monday that Stephens had been suspended for one game following the hit and actions that were “unacceptable and are not reflective of USC football nor of his personal character.”