"We didn't have the ability to stop them": Dan Lanning admits mistakes after Rose Bowl loss to Ryan Day's Ohio State 

Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks' incredible Big Ten debut campaign came to an end in the Rose Bowl showdown against Ohio State. The Ducks were undefeated heading into this College Football Playoff quarterfinal and were the favorites to emerge victorious and take a step forward towards competing for the natty.

Unfortunately for Dan Lanning and his team, the Buckeyes put up a masterclass on offense, making it difficult for Oregon to make a comeback in the game. The Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl showdown with a 41-21 final score, taking Ryan Day closer to winning his first national championship with the program.

In the postgame press conference, Dan Lanning did not make any excuses about their loss to the better-prepared Buckeyes. He took responsibility for the loss and stated that their defense had not gameplan to stop Ohio State's offensive firepower and also praised their performance in the CFP quarterfinal:

"You know, they [Ohio State] clicked tonight and we didn't," Lanning said. "And I didn't get our team prepared. You know, and that's a great team. When you play a great team like Ohio State, you can't not be clicking on all cylinders. And they were clicking on all cylinders.

"We didn't really have the ability to stop them and didn't have the ability to get something going for us on offense. And we haven't faced a lot of moments like that this year.....Don't want to discredit what our players have been able to accomplish this year. We had a great team. We just ran into a great team tonight and we didn't play our best," he added.

The Buckeyes took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to two touchdown passes by QB Will Howard. They continued their offensive dominance before Dillon Gabriel finally managed to put Oregon on the scoreboard with a five-yard TD pass to Traeshon Holden before the end of the first half.

However, the Buckeyes already had a 34-8 lead, making it difficult for the Ducks to make a comeback. They scored two more touchdowns in the second half, but Treveyon Henderson's TD for Ohio State put the final nail in the coffin for the Ducks.

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Dan Lanning praises Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith

Dan Lanning also heaped praise on WR Jeremiah Smith's performance during the Rose Bowl. The true freshman was an important part of Ryan Day's offense against Oregon and recorded two touchdowns for 187 receiving yards.

Lanning went on to give Smith the ultimate compliment, saying that he was already ready to play professionally in the NFL.

"He [Jeremiah Smith] is strong. He attacks the ball in the air as well as any receiver I have seen. I mean the guy is NFL-ready," Lanning said. "He's that talented, he's very special."

Despite failing to make it to the national championships, the Oregon Ducks have enjoyed quite the success winning the Big Ten title in their debut campaign. Lanning will now go back to the drawing room and start preparing for redemption next season.