Biggest Surprise from Oregon Ducks' Week One Win vs. Montana State

How Davison did it

Jordon Davison, a true freshman running back for No. 7 Oregon, proved why he had all the accolades and praise during his high school career. A product of Mater Dei High School, Davison was also a consensus four-star recruit and one of the top running back prospects in California. He's a 6-0, 236-pound back that can cross the goal line with force, and he did so three times.

“I didn't realize it was that many, but he's proven to be a really good short yardage back for us. He falls forward, he's a good back in the field as well. And again, that goes to some of the depth that we have in that room.” Ducks coach Dan Lanning

Redshirt senior running back Noah Whittington didn't shy away from giving Davison praise post game with reporters.

"I'm not surprised at all. We get down by the goal line no body is stopping him from getting one yard, two yards, three yards, four yards, five yards etc. He's a big back man. He runs with a lot of power, and he showed that today."Noah Whittington

How much depth does Oregon have at running back?

While Davison had such an explosive night, it questions how many running backs will be in rotation, and who they will be?

Whittington got the start for the Ducks, and Hughes, who just ran for 1,401 yards and 15 touchdowns last year at Tulane, hardly saw the field.

Now that could just mean that Oregon coach Dan Lanning doesn't want to show too many of his cards at once, while also giving opportunity for his young rushing core to get a taste of game reps.

"We've got a ton of really good backs, so I'd say I want to go watch the film, but they earn it every single day in practice. We've got a bunch of guys that can play winning football, and again, that's the challenge for us, to figure out, where does that fall?" Lanning said after the win.

For Lanning and running backs coach Ra'shaad Samples it truly is a challenge, but the outing against Montana State showed they just wanted to see how each running back performed.

"I think it's really special. I think that that's going to be our challenge as a coaching staff when you have a lot of talent, you know, where do you get those snaps? Where do you give those reps? How are you creative in a way that you can keep everybody involved?" Lanning said.

He also may have eluded to why veteran backs like Jayden Limar, and Hughes had very few caries:

"It takes guys being selfless and saying, Okay, I want to see everybody, see the team eat. And ultimately, that's going to create a lot of success for us," Lanning said.

Moving forward to Oregon's next home game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the rotation will likely be smaller when it comes to players getting a consistent amount of carries.