Dan Lanning wins at USC, then tells SoCal recruits where they should go

LOS ANGELES – Oregon head coach Dan Lanning grabbed his papers and pushed his chair in as finished fielding questions from reporters following No. 20 Oregon’s 41-27 win over USC in the Coliseum. But as he stood up to walk off the stage he made sure to use the spotlight to share some final words. “Three wins against these guys. I guess 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 (USC). His comments add another layer to a recruiting rivalry that burns with a fire every year. One that USC has taken control of recently, specifically as it pertains to landing top high school players in their own backyard in the 2026 and 2027 classes. Oregon and USC have gone head-to-head for many top recruits. While the Trojans may have signed the No. 1 ranked class in the country last year, it wasn’t enough to get past the Ducks. Not only did the Lanning and the Ducks win on Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 75,500, but they also made an impression on a slew of touted recruits that hold Oregon offers. There’s no shortage of unique recruiting pitches a school can offer, but Lanning is confident he and the Ducks can offer at least one thing: wins on a big stage. That wasn’t Lanning’s only shot at USC following his third straight win against Lincoln Riley and the Trojans. “I’ve watched three of their TV games, I haven’t seen a game packed yet, but we were here,” he said. “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.” Oregon has the No. 4 recruiting class in the 2027 cycle according to the Rivals Team rankings and with the December signing period just under three months away, the Ducks are taking advantage of every opportunity they have to make a recruiting pitch. Whether that’s inside Eugene’s Hatfield-Downlin Complex or on the field under the national spotlight.