Lanning said to Mike Torres of On3 Sports and the rest of the media, "We got a lot of really good players. There were plays that he was in, called runs, and we had heavy boxes and the ball was thrown. He's in also in a two-minute scenario where the ball's probably gonna be thrown a little bit more."

"But we got a lot of really talented players and it's gonna continue to be a challenge for us to figure out how do we use guys in the proper roles," Lanning said.

There's been no indication of a disciplinary issue or an injury. Scott Reed of Duck Sports Central reported in his forum that the Hugh situation was "A bit of a combination of things. He is not 100% with the playbook yet and is a little behind Whittington in that regard given Whittington's tenure in Eugene."

"The other reality is that this is a long season and keeping people fresh is important. We will start to get a clearer picture when we see the Ducks hit the road against Northwestern and Penn State."

It's clear that the Ducks are being very targeted and strategic about playing time in these early games. The coaches know they have an exceptionally talented roster, with a large number of athletes practicing and performing "above the line," in a phrase Dan Lanning uses often.

They also want to build a team that peaks in November, December and January. The goal in August and September is to manage the load and develop people while establishing a high standard.

Like all aspects of this team, Makhi Hughes role is a work in progress.

Autzen Zoo

Dan Lanning offers explanation on why Makhi Hughes had su...

Reporters asked Dan Lanning was Makhi Hughes had such a severely limited opportunity in Oregon's 59-13 opening win over Montana State. Lanning said to Mike Tor

That really was not an answer, but a coachspeak deflection from what is reality...of which we do not know.

Could he be dinged up? Possible, but it that worth hiding?

Could it be that he is not as good as hoped? I doubt that as well, so I have no idea what is going on.

Puzzling to be sure, I get the managed reps thing but Penn State is less than a month away and I would think game time reps in this system would be pretty important before then.

That said, damn we got a stable of backs with or without Hughes.