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QuickTake:
Four years ago, some asked: Why not Lane Kiffin? After Oregon's latest win — and Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss — there's a clear answer.
Say what you will about Mario Cristobal — or even Willie Taggart. Neither left Oregon the way Lane Kiffin just left Mississippi.
By now you’ve seen it: With his team positioned for a College Football Playoff run, Kiffin bailed on his roster for the LSU job. And Kiffin — who will make out like a bandit financially — has spent the last week trying to cast himself as the victim.
“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team,” Kiffin wrote in a statement. “My request to do so was denied by (athletic director) Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching.”
In an ESPN interview, he added: “I hope when the emotions settle down, there’s an appreciation about what we were able to do here.”
On Sunday, Mississippi fans showed their appreciation by greeting him at the airport with outstretched middle fingers.
I bring this up because it wasn’t long ago some people were calling for a Kiffin-Oregon union. And by “some people,” well, yeah, that included me.
Look, it was a dark time. Cristobal had just left, vibes around the program were at rock bottom, and I thought Kiffin — early in his Ole Miss tenure — could keep the recruiting machine humming and maybe make Oregon fun again.
I still think he could have. And what would he do? Lead the Ducks to the precipice of a national championship and then walk out?
Who does that?
Anyway, after Saturday’s 26-14 win over Washington, Dan Lanning is now 46-7 in four seasons at Oregon. He’s 17-1 in Big Ten play, has posted 10-plus wins every year, and has given the fanbase the gift of a full night’s sleep while the rest of the coaching carousel loses its mind.
The Ducks have a great coach who wants to be here.
Maybe there’s a reason I’m not working in an athletic department.
Here are a few more thoughts following Saturday’s win:
Automaticus
Atticus Sappington is just showing off now.
The Oregon senior started November by winning things at Iowa. He ended it by matching the Huskies in points, 14-14, after his four field goals and two extra points on Saturday.
The highlight was his career-long 51-yarder in the fourth quarter.
I was about to write “drilled,” but that ball hung in the air forever before dropping through.
“I hit it pretty good,” Sappington said. “I saw it. It had some good height on it. I was like, come on, come on, just get there. … That was my first ever 50-yard field goal that I’ve made, so I was super fired up.”
Sappington also let us in on a little secret he uses to make those long attempts feel a bit shorter. Before his career-long make, he lined up way farther back than necessary, then moved forward to take the kick at the 34.
“I start far back because it’s an optical illusion,” Sappington said. “If you look at the uprights from far away and you put your head down and run closer, the uprights look bigger.”
It’s the kicker version of a batter’s doughnut. And it has Sappington closing in on one of the better kicking seasons in Oregon history: He’s made 15 of his 18 attempts.
“He’s the GOAT,” Oregon receiver Malik Benson said. “We call him ‘Automatic.’ Even if we don’t score a touchdown, we know he’s going to do what he has to do. He stepped up big for us.”
That hit
There’s one hit I can remember in person that was harder than the one Dillon Thieneman laid on Washington’s Dezmen Roebuck on Saturday.
It was 16 years ago in Missoula, when Montana cornerback Keith Thompson detonated Appalachian State’s Matt Cline on the sideline during the FCS semifinals.
Thieneman’s came close — maybe falling short only because, against all odds, Roebuck popped right back up.
Yeah, the Oregon safety said, he wasn’t expecting that.
“I was surprised,” Thieneman said. “I thought I hit him pretty good. But he got up, he got the ball — it was a hell of a catch by him.”
And it’s been a hell of a year for the Purdue transfer.
In his lone regular season with the Ducks, Thieneman finished with 64 tackles, a sack and two interceptions — his game-sealer at Penn State, followed by Saturday’s pick of UW’s Demond Williams Jr. on the Huskies’ final offensive snap.
Those shirts
Thieneman joined linebacker Bryce Boettcher and quarterback Dante Moore for the post-win presser inside Husky Stadium. Moore wore his usual loungewear and Beats headphones. Boettcher and Thieneman … did not.
Sorry, guys — what’s that say?
“It’s CCU,” Boettcher said of the shirts showing him and Thieneman under block lettering. “It’s an abbreviation for Caucasian Collision Unit.
“We’ve been thinking about this for a while, being that DT got on the team, so we’ve kind of been brewing this for a while and his brother helped us out making the shirts.”
Added Moore: “I don’t have a shirt, by the way.”
