Impressive Stat Shows How Explosive Oregon Ducks Offense Has Been

The Oregon Ducks picked up their seventh win of the season on Saturday at Autzen Stadium with a 21-7 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers but it’s safe to say offense didn’t play up to standard.

The constant rain and the injury to quarterback Dante Moore certainly played a role in Oregon’s below-average performance, but offensive coordinator Will Stein’s unit still ended up generating multiple big plays on the ground, something that has become a theme this season.

Even if Moore does end up missing some time, Oregon’s running backs have shown off some explosiveness that is statistically unmatched across the rest of college football, which could give quarterback Brock Thomas something to lean on if he is thrust into the starting role.

According to Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com, Oregon leads college football this season with 24 runs of 20+ yards. This included four explosive runs in the win over Wisconsin, as the running back room all took turns getting their chance at gashing the Badgers’ defense.

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All four primary running backs — Noah Whittington, Jordon Davison, Dierre Hill Jr. and Jayden Limar — have had at least one run of 50+ yards this season. Searching for explosive? Look no further.

The Ducks have had a committee approach at running back this season but it clearly hasn’t impacted that group’s statistical output. If anything, it’s led to an increase in production, as Oregon is on pace to top its rushing total from last season when Jordan James operated as the primary ball carrier en route to a 1,000-yard season.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning has had a 1,000-yard rusher each season since arriving to Eugene, though that’s likely to end this year. Still, there’s one name that has set himself apart this season for running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples.

Whittington is Oregon’s leader rusher (433) headed into the second bye week, but he is tied with the true freshman Davison in carries (51). Still, it’s Davison who leads the team with 10 rushing touchdowns, adding two more against the Badgers.

Davison arrived to Eugene as a four-star recruit and has looked every bit the part. He’s posted 51 carries for 352 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

His production on long runs might come as a surprise to college football fans, but Davison saw it coming from himself based on what he’s been doing in practice.

“Whole time I knew I could do it,” Davison said. “It’s happened a couple times in practice, so I feel like everybody on the team wasn’t surprised. Like I knew I could do it. I’m confident in myself, and I know my capability as a player.”

He has built a nice chemistry with Hill Jr., who has tallied 36 carries for 357 yards and three touchdowns this season.

“It’s kind of crazy, because coming in, they was like, who do I want to play with? And we was like watching each other’s film, and it was a couple backs, and I actually chose Dierre,” Davison said. “And his film stuck out to me. And then we was connecting before we got here, and then as soon as we got here, it just clicked, like, that’s my right-hand man. People probably think like, it’s just on the field, but we together every day, off the field, all the time.”

After the bye, the Oregon running backs will get another chance to show off their explosiveness when the Ducks visit the Iowa Hawkeyes.