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.

I read elsewhere that Lanning said Hughes was in for run play calls, then QB Moore checked out of the run play to a pass play due to defensive alignment.

Perhaps that makes sense if Montana State was aligning on defense for a run once they saw Hughes substitute in.

The Ducks had 39 rush attempts for 253 yds, 25 pass attempts (19 completions) for 253 yds.

Don't have the down and distance prior to Whittington's 10 rush attempts, or Hughes 1 attempt.

Probably because he was brought in and paid a lot of money. He thought he had it made and when he didn't automatically get it he pouted a little bit but not enough to get suspended and this was kind of a lesson. I cannot imagine he is so bad as to only get a couple of chances.

I really doubt true freshman know the playbook better than Hughes. Probably a disciplinary issue.

How good is he at blocking???

Maybe he is so good at running that the previous two years he was utilized so much in spite of lack of development in that area???

I actually assume he knows how to block, but the fact is, I don't know.

5 hours ago, Drake said:

I really doubt true freshman know the playbook better than Hughes. Probably a disciplinary issue.

Sometimes people pick things up at different speeds.

Also... I am sure the freshman have a limited playbook of their own. I think Dan wanted to give them some real reps in the game. Montana State was going to be a great opportunity for them to get their feet wet and figure out some of their niche roles. Davidson is going to be seeing the field as a power back in short yardage situations so getting him some early season reps will be key to making that more successful.

Whittington as the lead back for Oregon still only had 10 carries on the day. Yes, Hughes had only one but it's not like we had a back out there taking 20+ reps.

We'll have to wait and see how Hughes emerges for this team.

One thing is for sure at this point... if you're a runningback don't come to Oregon if you want to be a feature back. 2024 was really the exception of the Lanning era where James was that feature back. In all the other seasons there were at least 2-3 backs that played a major role. Looks like they are going back to that.

2022 - Irving, Whittington and James

2023 - Irving and James (Whittington injured)

2024 - James (some Whittington but no where near close in terms of carries)

2025 - Whittington and who else?

My reading between the lines is he is being competed for RB2 like ever back on the roster not not named Whittington.

He didn't get his share of touches due to circumstances.

I think the desire to keep D Moore healthy against a high blitz defense will change RB playing time this next game. I hear Mahki is the best pass blocker on the team. So I expect to see him a lot in the first half, or until Moore is done for the day.