Oregon HC Dan Lanning Speaks on the Ducks' Approach to the Rest of the Season

The Oregon Ducks are in an unfortunate free fall currently during this season. The Ducks began the season as the No. 2 team in the country, and unfortunately, that was the peak of their season.

A tough game against Boise State, a beatdown at the hands of Oklahoma State, a catastrophic injury to the quarterback, a ridiculous loss to UCLA, and finally, a "nail in the coffin" defeat to Illinois.

It's been a legitimate disaster for the Ducks, but now, they have an entire season left to play, and they are going to find out what this team and these players are made of.

Ducks' head coach Dan Lanning was asked after the loss how he is going to continue to motivate his team and how they need to approach the rest of the year. His answer was pretty solid, as they always are.

He said, in no direct words, that they have to evaluate exactly who they are as a team and who each of the players is as a man. They have to look inward to see what they want to get out of the rest of the season.

This is the negative part of what college football has become. These young men make so much money while still having an entire future ahead of them that it truly isn't worth continuing to play in some cases.

The days of having school pride are gone for the most part. Everything in this world is now a transaction, and when the end goal is out of reach, the transaction is complete. At least, it can be.

The Ducks still have a lot to play for this season. They have draft stock that can be improved upon, and they have a couple of seasons that they could play spoiler in a couple of weeks against the Ohio State Buckeyes, and they have a rivalry game at the end of the year against Washington.

They still have so much left to play for, they just need to commit to getting it done.

Getting them to that point is up to the coaching staff. There will potentially be some changes coming to that staff this week, as the Ducks' offense is completely stuck in mud and has been ever since the quarterback change.

The Ducks will have a chance to continue to compete for the rest of the season. The only question remaining is if they will.