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Noah Whittington injury update: Dan Lanning shares latest on Oregon RB

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison7 hours agodan_morrison96
Noah Whittington, Oregon
© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oregon Ducks were able to earn a comfortable 34-14 win over the weekend against Northwestern. It was a game that head coach Dan Lanning had to find a way to win despite the loss of veteran running back Noah Whittington.

Going into the game, Whittington had been among those who Oregon listed as questionable on its weekly availability report. In the end, he wasn’t able to play at all. Instead, it would be a running back by committee approach for the Ducks.

“To be determined,” Dan Lanning said. “We’ll see. If he’s ready, we’ll have him out there.”

Whittington was able to travel to Northwestern, and he appeared to want to give it a go. He would even go as far as to warm up with the team, but never saw the field. As of right now, it’s unclear what his exact injury is.

Through three games, and playing in two, Noah Whittington carried the ball 14 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to the Northwestern game, he had led the Ducks in rushing. That was on 11.4 yards per carry. He’s clearly become an important player on the Oregon offense, but Dan Lanning is confident in the running back room as a whole to pick up the slack if he misses an extended amount of time.

“Ultimately, I think we have a good back unit. So, it’s something we’ve said as a strength, and we said that this is why we prepare the way we prepare,” Lanning said. “Because there’s going to be a lot of guys that could be used, and we’ve got a lot of guys that can play winning football, and that’s certainly a position that’s shown up.”

In the Northwestern game, Dierre Hill led the Ducks in rushing yards with 94. That vaulted him into first on the team for rushing yards on the season with 161. Jayden Limar, meanwhile, had the most carries, taking the ball 11 times for 38 yards. Those two, along with Jordon Davison, all had rushing touchdowns. On top of those three, Oregon added transfer running back Makhi Hughes over the offseason. While it’s been a slow start to his season, Hughes still has plenty of talent.

Dan Lanning and Oregon are now back in Eugene. There, the Ducks are set to host rival Oregon State on September 20th. Kickoff for that game is set at 3:00 p.m. EST. After that, Oregon returns to Big Ten play with a major road test against Penn State.