Dan Lanning Rips Oregon's Play Despite Blowout Win vs. JMU in CFB Playoff Bracket

Oregon's 51-34 victory over James Madison in the first round of the College Football Playoff was never truly in doubt Saturday, but head coach Dan Lanning was not happy with the performance.

"There's a standard here," he said, per ESPN's Kyle Bonagura. "There's certainly a standard of performance. Our players know that, and they know what championship football looks like—and the second half didn't look like that."

Oregon played up to that standard in the first half as it built a 34-6 advantage and eliminated all realistic doubt about the outcome.

However, the Dukes outscored the Ducks 28-17 in the second half. While some of that came as Oregon rotated players into the lineup, that wasn't much of an excuse in Lanning's eyes.

"To not be able to come out and have the same success in the second half that we had the first half is certainly disappointing, and I think our players will certainly learn from that," the head coach said.

Full James Madison Dukes - Oregon Ducks Highlights

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Next up for Oregon is a quarterfinals matchup against fourth-seeded Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders won the Big 12 and finished with a 12-1 record that included two victories over BYU and a blowout win over Utah. They have one of the best defenses in the country that gave up 10.9 points per game with linebacker Jacob Rodriguez leading the way.

Oregon will have to be much better in the next contest than it was in the second half against James Madison if it is going to advance to the semifinals. 

But there were still some silver linings, including quarterback Dante Moore throwing for 313 yards and four touchdowns despite two interceptions. He also appreciated Lanning's postgame comments.

"Coach Lanning is our leader. We go as he goes," Moore said. "Everybody knows how Coach Lanning is. He's psycho. He's going to put that fire under us, and it's needed. We don't want everyone to get satisfied, and we never have been all year."

The level of competition is only going to get more challenging for the Ducks if they continue to win in the CFP, so Lanning focusing on improvement instead of celebrating the win could pay off down the line.