Oregon HC Dan Lanning sends pointed message to SoCal recruits after beating USC

Oregon played its first game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum under Dan Lanning on Saturday night and beat No. 12 USC 41-27 while its starting quarterback was being evaluated at a hospital across town. Lanning, now 3-0 against the Trojans, saved his sharpest words for the end of his postgame news conference, and he aimed them at the high school players who grew up closer to USC’s campus than to Eugene.

“If you’re interested in winning football games, you’re from this area, you should go to Oregon,” Lanning said. “You want to go to a Chris Brown concert, you should go here.”

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks on as the Oregon Ducks host the Montana State Bobcats on Aug. 30, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

Chris Brown and Usher were playing the second of two R&B Tour shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood that same night, so the comparison had a real event behind it. Lanning had also stayed quiet through a spring and summer of USC social media posts aimed at the Ducks, and Saturday was the night he chose to answer them.

“I’ve watched three of their TV games, I haven’t seen a game packed yet, but we were here,” Lanning said of USC’s home crowds. “It was packed tonight. So I guess when the Ducks show up, that’s how you fill up the Coliseum. And we got to take advantage of that.”

USC announced 51,144 for its Week 0 opener against San Jose State, the lowest figure of the Lincoln Riley era, and 53,014 against Fresno State. The Coliseum was close to full on Saturday with a ranked Oregon team in town, and Lanning turned that detail into a selling point about which program draws the attention in Los Angeles.

Lanning’s first two wins over USC both came at Autzen Stadium, 36-27 in 2023 and 42-27 in 2025, so Saturday was his first chance to make the argument inside the Trojans’ own building. Oregon won it without Dante Moore for most of the night.

Moore left in an ambulance in the second quarter after a targeting hit by USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. Backup Dylan Raiola, the former Nebraska starter who transferred to Oregon in January, completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. The Ducks outscored USC 28-17 after halftime.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning yells at USC after a late hit on quarterback Dante Moore as the Oregon Ducks face the USC Trojans on Sept. 26, 2026, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

For a Southern California prospect weighing the two schools, Saturday put both halves of Lanning’s argument on display in one evening. Oregon showed a roster deep enough to win a road rivalry game with its backup quarterback, and the Coliseum crowd grew once Oregon was the opponent.

Oregon has now won five straight meetings with USC and eight of the last 10, though the Trojans still lead the all-time series 38-25-2.