Dan Lanning compares Alton McCaskill to Derrick Henry

The Oregon Ducks are set to participate in one of many top-25 matchups for them in the 2023 season. On Saturday, Oregon will host Colorado in a clash between Pac-12 combatants who have their eye on the conference championship game at the end of the season.

Ahead of their huge Saturday afternoon matchup in Eugene, OR, it was revealed that the Buffaloes were getting back a key piece to their offense in running back Alton McCaskill. McCaskill will make his 2023 season debut against Oregon, providing a new dimension to Colorado’s offense.

As he prepares his team for the challenge of stopping Colorado’s high-powered offense, head coach Dan Lanning shared a few thoughts on the Buffaloes running back.

“Yeah, from the run game standpoint, he’s a guy who has been able to run the ball really well,” said Lanning. “Has had a lot of success for his team in the past. I think he’s a hard runner. Runs kind of Derek Henry-esque, and that’ll be a great challenge for us. So we certainly have to be ready for him when he’s out there.”

With McCaskill returning this week, it gives Colorado star quarterback Shedeur Sanders a new weapon at his disposal. Sanders has been on fire for the early part of the season as he has already thrown for 1251 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception.

The last time McCaskill played was in 2021 for the University of Houston. There, the sophomore running back had a monster season for the Cougars with 109 carries for 961 yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, and two receiving. Still, if Lanning’s assessment of McCaskill’s running style is spot on, the Oregon defense might have their hands full Saturday trying to slow him down.

Lanning on his familiarity with Sanders

Ahead of the matchup, Lanning was also asked if he knew or had met Sanders prior to Saturday. He had, but only briefly.

“I don’t know them well. I know of him, obviously, like everyone knows of him. We actually, when I was at Georgia, we — I got to be around Shedeur a few times and he was recruited by us so, very familiar with them but don’t know them personally,” Lanning said.

Lanning, who was a defensive assistant at Georgia before becoming the Oregon head coach, has been thoroughly impressed by the play of Shedeur Sanders so far this year.

“I think he’s just absolutely grown as a player. He’s the guy that makes it tick for them on offense. He’s operating at a really high level. Like I said before, Sean Lewis has done a phenomenal job with that offense, he creates a lot of issues and he has him playing at a really high level as well,” Lanning said.