In this new world of college sports and prospective NIL deals, it would be a travesty if the current five Oregon tailbacks don’t create some kind of advertising package with ‘Five Guys’ Hamburgers.
A bit of a stretch, maybe. but conceptually, it’s right on the money!
And while that idea may not develop on the desk of a marketing executive, what is certainly developing on the field is the current strategy of ‘running back by committee’ for the Oregon Ducks offense.
The Ducks are utilizing five extremely talented tailbacks, all unique in their own way.
For Noah Whittington, a transfer from Western Kentucky, it’s a different experience, but it’s a good one for everyone involved.
It was Whittington who was tabbed to start the Eastern Washington game, but being the first one on the field isn’t the marquee billing it used to be.
“It felt like the same as coming off the bench. It didn’t really matter,” Whittington said this week.
“I’m just getting in there and trying to make the most of my opportunities while I’m here. And no matter when I go in, or when anybody should go in, it should feel like the same, to take every snap seriously.”
Whittington, along with Sean Dollars, Bucky Irving, Byron Cardwell, and Seven McGee have similar numbers through the first two games.
As a group, Oregon is averaging just over 200 yards ( per game ) on the ground.
“If it’s four or five guys and they can ball, then all four or five guys are gonna touch the rock,” Whittington explained.
“It’s that’s simple. But I enjoy it. It feels good to practice with my boy and then we get in the game and I see all of them eating.”
Irving, a transfer out of Minnesota, does have experience in playing in a running back group like this, so the running back-by-committee thing doesn’t bother him at all.
“I love our running back room. We all trust each other when our number is called, we just go out and perform,” Irving said.
“When coach says go in, I get to go in fresh off the sideline, and knowing that I got another brother coming in behind me knowing that he’s fresh, it gives us confidence in each other.”
Coming from Western Kentucky might offer Whittington a slight disadvantage in Saturday’s contest with BYU since the other tailbacks have played in larger conferences and bigger games either at Oregon or in Irving’s case, the spotlight games in the Big Ten.
“In the first game that when I was at Minnesota, we went to Ohio State and I was just watching (Mohammed) Ibrahim and how he prepared,” Irving said.
“He was my roommate in the hotel, so I just took every step from him and saw how he prepared for a game even though it’s a big game, we still treated every game like it’s the same.”
And it just so happens, Saturday’s match-up with the cougars is the biggest game at Autzen Stadium in quite some time.
It’s the first time two ranked teams have played in Eugene in four years.
Oregon can rest assured that it has plenty of options to throw at BYU on Saturday and the Ducks are hoping the tailback-by- committee will be too much for the Cougar defense to handle.
Photo by Tom Corno – Ducks Sports Authority