Around the Big Ten: Dan Lanning goes viral, Jason Kelce apologizes for the incident

The No. 1 Oregon Ducks aren't just making headlines for their on-field performances.

Oregon's latest viral moment came from a usual suspect: coach Dan Lanning, whose Gladiator-inspired motivational tool has some fans and former players wanting to run through a brick wall.

Elsewhere around the Big Ten: a cell phone incident involving Jason Kelce and Urban Meyer's election as national coach of the year.

Each week throughout the season, The Oregonian/OregonLive will share the stories we're reading and watching around the Big Ten.

“All day, thumbs down.”

Lanning has provided some unique motivational tools for the Ducks this season, and it has paid off. Last week, in advance of the road game at Michigan, the Oregon coach compared their trip to the Big House to parts of Teddy Roosevelt's “Man in the Arena” speech.

Oregon also watched the 2000 classic “Gladiator” starring Russell Crowe and took advantage of the thumbs-down celebration during the game as the game showed no mercy to the Wolverines in a 38-17 victory. Behind-the-scenes clips of Lanning from the Michigan game, taken from Oregon's weekly docuseries “Ducks vs. Them,” subsequently went viral.

“I have decided to meet hate with hate.”

Speaking of viral moments, former Eagles center Jason Kelce had one of his own over the weekend when he cracked a fan's phone at the Ohio State vs. Penn State game after the fan called Jason's brother and podcast partner Travis a homophobic slur . While the internet largely came to Kelce's defense after he responded to the fan's abhorrent behavior, Kelce apologized for repeating the insult to the fan in the heated moments after he tipped the phone.

“I think everyone saw on social media what happened this week,” Kelce, now an ESPN NFL analyst, said on Monday Night Football’s pregame broadcast. “Look, I’m not happy with anything that happened. I'm not proud of it. In a heated moment I decided to meet hate with hate and I just don't think that's a productive thing to do, I really don't. I don't think it creates a discourse and that it is the right way to do things. In that moment, I fell to a level I shouldn’t have.”

A cigarette lights it

Florida and Ohio State standout coach Urban Meyer has made his 2024 National Coach of the Year pick, and it's anything but controversial. Meyer believes Indiana's Curt Cignetti – who led the undefeated Hoosiers to a No. 8 seed in the scheduled College Football Playoff – deserves the award.

Meyer pointed to the spread of the Indiana-Michigan game as a prime example of how far the program has come.

“And I'm going to talk about it because they're playing each other: Who would have thought that they'd be playing the best team in the Big Ten 365 (days) away from the worst team in the Big Ten? a year ago, and they are the favorite by 14.5 points,” Meyer said.

Iowa's QB continues to be sidelined

Despite their recent success, the Iowa Hawkeyes are still on the mend. Former starting quarterback Cade McNamara is out with a concussion this Friday against UCLA, making room for backup Brendan Sullivan to remain under center.

Sullivan played well and led the Hawkeyes to a 42-10 win over Wisconsin last weekend. Iowa has won both games since McNamara's demise, and in convincing fashion, so it likely won't be in a rush to make another quarterback change.

Wisconsin giving up its identity?

National reporters are starting to wonder what happened to Wisconsin under coach Luke Fickell. The team is 5-4 and a crushing loss to Iowa sparked big questions among fans and reporters alike. These aren't your father's badgers, some have pointed out.

Scott Dochterman of The Athletic was among those who voiced criticism, saying Wisconsin is “losing” its identity of hard-nosed defense and winning games in the trenches on both sides of the ball, leading to negative results. The situation is difficult with top-ranked Oregon coming to Madison next week.

No. 1 Oregon (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) vs. Maryland (4-4, 1-4)

• When: Saturday November 9th
• Time: 4:00 p.m. PT
• Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene
• TV channels: Big Ten Network
• Electricity: Watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial) with the Sports Extra package (cheapest streaming plans). If you add the “Sports Extra” package, you’ll get $25 off your first month. This includes Big Ten Network, SEC Network, and a few other sports channels. You can also watch this game live on Fox Sports Live using your cable or satellite provider credentials.
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— Ryan Clarke covers that Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to this Ducks Confidential Podcast or subscribe Ducks Roundup Newsletter.