We may now know why Dan Lanning was so confident trash-talking Deion Sanders' Colorado football program

Dan Lanning may have been so confident heading into Oregon's eventual 42-6 blowout win against Deion Sanders' Colorado football program because his Ducks staffers were possibly monitoring the Buffs' practices and hacking into CU's online service that stores practice video and other data -- this, at least according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter who told as much to Front Office Sports.

Apparently, the issue was serious enough to garner attention from the Pac-12 in 2023.

"The Pac-12—which was in its final school year as a 12-team conference before all but Oregon State and Washington State defected to other leagues—took the allegation seriously, the sources said," FOS Sports' A.J. Perez wrote. "Conference officials reached out to Colorado’s athletic department and administration to seek more information and to determine whether the school wanted to pursue an investigation—one that potentially could have led to an FBI probe if any illegal incursions occurred."

Ultimately, Catapult, Colorado's video replay system provider, couldn't come up with enough concrete evidence to get the FBI involved and bring repercussions to Lanning's Oregon program.

But Lanning's arrogance leading up to the matchup would track given how things went during the two teams' September 23 showdown at Autzen Stadium.

Dan Lanning may have known he can make comments about Colorado football playing for clicks go viral

Lanning was never as animated as he was during the lead-up to the Colorado game before or after that Week 4 blowout. He accused the Buffs of playing for clicks despite plastering Bo Nix on every possible billboard. Everything worked out for him and his Ducks, and the Buffs' hype train ended abruptly.

It's not known whether or not his program got access to the Buffs' game film. But the stars certainly aligned like it would if he had done so.