Oregon might always be flashy, but under Dan Lanning, the Ducks are playing tough

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"DO PEOPLE THINK Oregon and think tough?"

An animated Dan Lanning stands in the front of the Oregon team room asking his entire team the rhetorical question. It's the fifth week of the season and a 4-0 Ducks team is headed to Salt Lake City where it'll face a Utah team that's won 30 straight games at home and whose "national narrative," as Lanning puts it, is one of being tough to beat.

"What's the narrative on us?" Lanning continues. "Flashy."

Oregon, with its Nike partnership, history of teams with offensive firepower and equally bold uniforms, has come to represent a certain kind of football, a certain kind of program, over the years. Whether you want…