Oregon running back Noah Whittington expected to miss remainder of 2023 season
Oregon standout running back Noah Whittington is expected to miss the remainder of the 2023 season due to injury, according to Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning.
There was optimism within the program that Whittington, who suffered an apparent leg injury during Oregon’s Week 4 win over Colorado, would only be sidelined for a few weeks. But during his Wednesday press conference, Lanning was asked if Whittington is expected to play again this season.
“I don’t think that’s probably gonna be the case, no,” Lanning said.
In four games this season, Whittington has rushed for 146 net yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. He is averaging 7.3 yards per carry, which is third among Oregon’s running backs.
A former Western Kentucky standout who transferred to UO ahead of the 2022 season, Whittington made an immediate impact during his first season in Eugene. In 12 games, he ran for 617 yards and two touchdowns on 101 carries.
This season, he has shared carries with preseason All-American Bucky Irving and sophomore Jordan James.
During the Ducks’ Week 5 42-6 win over Stanford, Irving and James were the only scholarship running backs to see the field while the game was still in the balance. After the first-team offense exited the game, true freshmen Jayden Limar and Dante Dowdell each played a handful of snaps.
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In four games this season, Limar has run for 67 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
“Well, I think he’s showing his intelligence to be coming in as a freshman and really executing his assignment at a high level,” Lanning said. “He catches the ball well in the backfield, and he runs hard in between the tackles.”
Dowdell has run for 61 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries in four games this season.
“I mean, Dante is obviously a real physical runner, right? Big bodies are hard to bring down,” Lanning said. “He broke out a big run yesterday in practice, so excited to see his growth as well.”
The No. 8 Ducks are in the midst of a bye week and have their sights set on their Week 7 showdown with No. 7 Washington in Seattle. Lanning was asked on Wednesday what he is hoping to see from his team in the coming days.
“Toughness, right? The toughness has to show up now,” Lanning said. “Everybody’s in-season, it’s getting longer, right? And you’re really not even at the midway point for us. So, we have to continue to look to grow, you know, continue to challenge ourselves to make ourselves better. I think they’re doing that.”
