Several true freshmen could play key roles for Oregon in Holiday Bowl matchup with North Carolina

Throughout the season, Dan Lanning has been asked time and time again about his philosophy for playing true freshmen and preserving redshirts.

Each time, he has delivered a simple rebuttal.

“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

That philosophy will be put to the test on Wednesday as Oregon will lean heavily on its first-year players against North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl.

Up to this point, 15 of Oregon’s 17 true freshmen have played in a game during the 2022 campaign. Of those 15, only four have carved out significant roles — offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr., cornerback Jahlil Florence, cornerback Khamari Terrell, and running back Jordan James.

Against the Tar Heels, though, plenty of others will be counted on.

Oregon’s roster has been depleted by opt-outs and transfer portal departures. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez, linebacker Noah Sewell, and edge rusher DJ Johnson have all opted out to begin preparing for the NFL Draft. Additionally, 16 Ducks have hit the transfer portal.

Oregon is particularly thin at middle linebacker, edge rusher, cornerback, and receiver at this point compared to where it stood at the end of the regular season.

During his Tuesday press conference, Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning was not willing to name specific freshmen who could step up. But Lanning did note that some of Oregon’s younger reserve players will be in the mix for expanded roles.

“I think we wait to watch the game and you guys see who you see,” Lanning said. “But certainly, there’s gonna be a lot of young guys out there for us — for both teams. Like (North Carolina head coach Mack Brown) said: there can be negative connotations with who’s in and who’s out of these games. But I’d rather see the end of the positive side and that’s the sign of some young guys are gonna get opportunities that all year have been sitting there waiting for their chance, and you hope that they’ve done everything they can to prepare themselves for that moment.

“But we’re gonna have a lot of young guys out there on the field for us, just like North Carolina will. We’ll see what they do with their moment.”

Earlier this month the NCAA issues a one-time blanket waiver to exempt postseason games from counting against a player’s participation total. As a result, Oregon’s freshman can play in more than four games this season without fear of burning a redshirt.

Only three Ducks will be affected by the one-time waiver: offensive lineman Dave Iuli, defensive lineman Ben Roberts, and linebacker Devon Jackson, as they have all played in exactly four games this season.

Kyler Kasper and Justius Lowe could see playing time at receiver. On the defensive side, edge rusher Anthony Jones could play a significant role as four different Oregon edge rushers have departed the program.

At cornerback, Florence, Terrell, and Jalil Tucker could all see significant playing time.

“Certainly this is going to be the beginning for some young players’ careers,” Lanning said. “I remember not too long ago being at Georgia and (former Bulldog’s linebacker Azez Ojulari’s) very first experience in a game was really in the Sugar Bowl. And then a couple of years later, he’s a draft pick, but really didn’t play at all as a freshman in our time in Georgia. Then grows into a guy that’s able to make a tremendous impact.

“On the same note, this is an exit for some guys that have been part of our program for so long in Alex Forsyth, Ryan Walk, some of those guys that. So, this can be a beginning and this can be an end for a lot of players.”