Dan Lanning Calls Ashton Jeanty 'The best' Back He's Seen Since Coaching at Oregon
Oregon has faced a handful of talented running backs the last couple of years. Damien Martinez (Oregon State), Dillon Johnson (Washington), Zach Charbonnet (UCLA) and Jaydn Ott are a few that come to mind.
But this week the Ducks will face the best running back they’ve seen in two years, at least according to Dan Lanning.
On Monday night the Oregon head coach raved about Boise State junior running back Asthon Jeanty, who ran for 267 yards (13.4 YPC) and six touchdowns in the Broncos’ 56-45 win over Georgia Southern last week.
“I think this is the best running back I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Lanning told reporters. “He’s certainly an NFL guy and he doesn’t go down on first contact ever. He’s one of the best stiff arm guys that we’ve gone against. He runs really really physical.”
The 5-foot-9, 215-pound Jeanty played in 12 of Boise State’s 14 games a season ago, racking up 1,347 rushing yards (6.12 YPC) and 14 touchdowns on 220 carries. He was also a factor in the passing game, catching 43 passes for 569 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
But Lanning isn’t only focused on Jeanty, as Boise State freshman Sire Gaines also impressed when he made his college debut, totaling 110 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
“And the next guy they brought in ran for 100 yards too,” the head coach continued. “So a really powerful rushing attack.”
Oregon was stout against the run last weekend, limiting Idaho’s run game to just 49 rushing yards on 20 carries (2.45 YPC).
The Broncos have always been one of the better coached teams in college football and Dirk Koetter’s offense will come with plenty of challenges for Dan Lanning and Tosh Lupoi’s defense.
“Their offense does a lot of good things to scheme you up,” Lanning said. “They have complements off of each play, so a great stretch play’s gonna have a great boot play action off of it as well. So they hold you accountable, they make you tackle. They’re gonna make DBs tackle, they do a really good job of that and the back’s certainly is a big piece of their success.”
Oregon and Boise State will play at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday and the game will be broadcast on Peacock.
