DJ Johnson's Targeting Appeal Denied Following Win Over WSU

Originally posted on FanNation Ducks Digest
By Max Torres | Last updated 9/26/22

Oregon will be without its sack leader to start this week's game against the Stanford Cardinal. On Monday, Dan Lanning said the outside linebacker's appeal of a targeting call that got him ejected against Washington State had been denied.

"It's been appealed and it's been denied," Lanning said during his weekly Monday press conference.

WATCH: Dan Lanning previews Stanford matchup following win over WSU

Johnson was called for targeting and ejected following his second sack of Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward in the fourth quarter of last week's game.

Lanning was clearly unhappy with the officiating despite coming away with a win in Pullman.

"There's a couple odd things that happened today that I'm looking forward to hearing explanations on," the head coach said following Saturday's win.

Now that the appeal has been denied Johnson will miss the first half of Oregon's upcoming game against the Stanford Cardinal. The pass rush hasn't been a strong suit for this defense through four games, but it's steadily improved each week, and Johnson leads the team with three sacks after recording two over the weekend.

He wasn't the only player flagged on Saturday as Brandon Dorlus was penalized for roughing the passer after making contact with Ward's head during the game.

Lanning and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi will now turn to players like Mase Funa, Dorlus, Bradyn Swinson, Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe to dial up some pressure against a Stanford team that is always a handful in the trenches.