It’s not often one looks at a college football stat sheet and finds five different tailbacks receiving carries during a single game.
The Oregon offense did just that in their opening contest.
It’s not completely unusual, however.
Dan Lanning has seen it. In fact, during his previous coaching stops, he’s seen that approach used often.
Against Georgia, Minnesota transfer Mar’Keise ‘Bucky’ Irving went into the stat sheet as the official starter, and the first tailback to get a touch.
But Sean Dollars, Byron Cardwell, Jordan James, and Noah Whittington all saw playing time in the backfield.
Maybe a single running back didn’t separate themselves from the rest of the pack during fall camp, or maybe all are equally talented and Lanning is simply waiting for one of these five to make a significant leap in production during game action.
Whatever the reason, Oregon for now, seems to be utilizing a ‘runningback by committee’ approach until a clear-cut contributor is found in its richly talented runningback room.
According to Dollars, it matters not that the Ducks have so many guys carrying the ball. What matters is the tempo of the offense and making the most out of the opportunities given.
“We’re Oregon. We’re meant to play fast” explained Dollars on Tuesday.
“I understand as soon as we get the ball, just being able to get to the ball every single time a play is done. Just catching the defense off guard with our speed and tired them out,…that’s what we’re about. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
Unfortunately in their first outing, the Ducks weren’t able to show how fast they’re able to go because several drives stalled due to either an interception or a bad read,…or simply better defense.
In the few instances when Oregon was able to move the ball in rhythm, they certainly showed glimpses of what could be.
But against a team like Georgia, just showing glimpses isn’t nearly good enough.
Dollars finished the game with four carries for 33 yards with an average of over eight yards per carry.
With Eastern Washington waiting in the wings, Duck fans should expect a much better offensive output and a better overall performance in rushing the football.
“We all come together as a group. When we all play good, we all play as one,” said Dollars.
“If one plays off, we all did a bad job. So it’s all about us coming to the counter together as a team and as a position group. We have to continue to keep on doing that.”
As an offense, Oregon averaged 4.5 yards per carry against the No. 3 team in the nation. On most days, that’s a solid outing and would likely lead to a win.
But football is a team game and every position group needs to have a positive output. Dollars admitted the receivers and running backs need to be better and certainly, the offensive line played well.
“They did exactly what they needed to do in the trenches,” Dollars said.
“You see a couple of clips where the guys held their own and that’s all you can ask for. We got to do a better job on our end.