Oregon's Bucky Irving, Khyree Jackson expected to play vs. Utah in Week 8
Oregon standout running back Bucky Irving and cornerback Khyree Jackson are both expected to play against Utah this weekend, according to Dan Lanning.
While speaking with reporters for his Monday press conference, Lanning was asked about the status of Irving, Jackson, and sophomore running back Jordan James.
“I think those guys will be good to go this weekend,” Lanning said. “They were all out there with practice today.”
Irving delivered one of his best performances of the season during the Ducks’ 38-24 win over Washington State last Saturday. The all-conference junior ran for 129 yards on 13 carries, caught three passes for 51 yards, and scored three total touchdowns.
He left the game late in the fourth quarter and was tended to by trainers after being tackled from behind. But he returned for the final drive of the game.
James, who ran for 103 yards on 11 carries, briefly left in the fourth quarter, too, but also returned before the final whistle.
Jackson, an Alabama transfer who has entrenched himself as Oregon’s No. 1 cornerback this season, did not play against the Cougars. He was dinged up during the Ducks’ Week 5 win over Stanford and also left with an apparent injury during the Week 7 loss at Washington.
Prior to the Washington State game, Jackson was on the field in full pads for pregame warmups. But he was later spotted on the sideline in street clothes during the game.
With Jackson sidelined, Nikko Reed and Trikweze Bridges started at cornerback for the Ducks.
The No. 8 Ducks and No. 13 Utes are slated to kick off at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday. The game will air on ABC.
Following Irving’s big performance against the Cougars, Lanning was asked what makes the junior running back so effective.
“I don’t know that anybody wants this team to be more successful than Bucky Irving does,” Lanning said. “He cares about this team. He cares about his teammates. I won’t go into detail about his backstory, but the adversity that this guy has faced — for him to be the remarkable young man that he is, it’s really impressive.
“I have three sons. I hope my sons can grow up and be like Bucky Irving.”
In addition to Irving’s standout performance, the Ducks got a big showing from James, too, who has been instrumental over the past few weeks.
“How they run — they take on the personality of their coach,” Lanning said of Oregon’s running back duo. (Running backs coach Carlos Locklyn) coaches those guys hard and you get great results from that. Every single day the standard is the standard. You guys get to see it on Saturdays, but I get to see that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The way those guys practice, the way they run, and the way those guys work. It really carries over from that practice into games.”
