Dan Lanning describes the impact of Noah Whittington's injury

Dan Lanning confirmed Oregon would be without running back Noah Whittington for a few weeks after suffering an injury against Colorado. 

It’s certainly tough on the team to lose an important player. However, Lanning is confident in others stepping up in Whittington’s absence.

But it’s no secret the entire Ducks squad felt his absence.

“Well, first they hurt for Noah because they know this guy that steps on the field every single day and he works his tail off,” Lanning said. “He might not say a word. I mean, he’s a guy that we talk about guys that talk with their pads. That’s Noah and he’s tough. This guy’s from Peach County that, anybody that hasn’t been there wouldn’t know but if you’ve been there, you’d realize what that means. So those guys hurt for him.”

Lanning mentioned how it has to be a next man up mentality moving forward until Whittington is back.

“But they also know again next guy up how am I going to take advantage of this opportunity to make sure I don’t let our team down in his absence and we’re going to miss Naoh, you don’t just replace Noah with one player,” Lanning said. “And especially his demeanor and his work ethic. But we’ve got some great backs in that room that are ready to fill, fill those shoes out there.”

Lanning followed up with his confidence in his running back room.

“It takes what it takes right, we’re gonna play as many guys that can play winning football for us and play at a high level,” Lanning said. “And we’re fortunate we were one of the teams in the league that are fortunate to have great backs. So I’m really pleased with the guys that we have in that room. I know we can get it done with the guys in that room. We’ll see how people’s roles grow in the next few weeks as we adapt and adjust based on that.”

In four games, Whittington had 20 carries for 146 yards, two touchdowns and 7.3 yards per carry. He also had two catches for 10 yards.

Last season, Whittington had 139 carries for 779 yards, five touchdowns, 5.6 yards per carry, five catches, 22 receiving yards and one touchdown reception.

As a member of the Class of 2020, Whittington was a three-star recruit out of Fort Valley (Ga.) Peach County, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 216 overall prospect in the state, the No. 327 wide receiver in the class (before switching to RB) and the No. 2,222 overall prospect in the class.