For the last decade or so, one of college football’s coolest traditions has emerged in Eugene with the playing of “Shout!” by Otis Day and the Knights, a classic that was featured in the movie Animal House.
At the end of the third quarter of each game at Autzen Stadium, the song and video that the folks at Nike put together is played and the fans sing and dance through it. The players also get in on the action. Former Duck Troy Dye really got into it.
But there’s one thing that most forget. There’s still a game being played and coaches use the in-between quarters break to do some necessary coaching or adjustment that need to be made for the fourth quarter.
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It’s something Dan Lanning and his staff are trying to figure out. They’re new to this. They’ve only coached in a packed Autzen Stadium twice. While it’s a great tradition, and one of the most cherished moments for any Oregon football player, Lanning wants there to be a balance between the fun and the football.
“Does anybody remember the next play after ‘Shout’?” Lanning said on Saturday after Oregon’s 41-20 win over BYU. “We gave up a third down for a first down, so I don’t know, I’ve got to figure that out. We talked through what we were going to see, what we were going to play, we didn’t finish on the sack, lost contain of the quarterback, so I’ve got to get better on coaching in that situation.”
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Lanning said one solution might be is to figure out a formula for when the team can dance, according to the game situation. He doesn’t want to take out the fun, but he doesn’t want the players to forget they have a job to do, either.
“We got some really good dancers on this team,” Lanning said with a laugh. “That’s apparent but I hope we can figure out a score margin or rule that you can dance on ‘Shout’ based on what the score is. I love that our players have energy and passion for this game. (It’s) meant to be fun and our guys had fun out there today but we’ve got to be detailed and finish and that next play we didn’t finish.”
Defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus is in total agreement with his coach.
“We’ve just got to be locked in. The ‘Shout’ is an amazing tradition,” he said. “I love doing ‘Shout’ but we’ve just got to remember what the task at hand is, and we’ve got to finish the game. To give up those two touchdowns is unacceptable. We’re gonna figure it out.”
Linebacker Noah Sewell was asked about how he can help his teammates maintain focus after the third quarter ends. He had a different take than Lanning and Dorlus.
“Not help at all,” he said with a smile and a laugh. “I tried to get Dan to ‘Shout!’ with us.”
As long as Oregon doesn’t lose focus or a game because of “Shout!”, they can smile and laugh all they want.
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