After Oregon beat USC on November 22nd while the SEC was gorging on cupcakes, Dan Lanning said, "We didn't play Chattanooga State today." The Trojans were ranked No. 15 at the time, and they put up a fight.
In the conference where it just means more the contingent of playoff-lobbyists were playing Samford, Charlotte and Eastern Illinois. A little embarrassing just two weeks before taking to social media to whine about how the integrity of the game hinges on your three-loss team being included in the 12-team College Football Playoff field.
Lanning's little aside was totally appropriate and completely in character but he also showed he had heart and a sense of humor when he took a picture yesterday in some new swag, from Chattanooga State, technically the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Mocs, who play their home games at Finley Stadium, 5-7 this season, 4-4 in the Southern Conference.