ATLANTA — Oregon leading rusher Noah Whittington is expected to play in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Indiana on Friday night, but likely not start, sources told ESPN.
How much he plays depends on how he feels in warmsups, the sources said. Whittington unexpectedly showed up on the Oregon injury report on Thursday and was listed as questionable. He’s dealing with an undisclosed injury and is expected to warm up in an attempt to play.
This development comes at a position where Oregon is dealing with significant depth issues, as the Ducks are already without Jordon Davison, their second-leading rusher, who is out with an upper body injury.
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Oregon’s actions this week appear to underscore the concern at the position. ESPN’s Katie George reported earlier Friday that the Ducks moved two defensive players to tailback: safety Kilohana Haasenritter and linebacker Brayden Platt. (Haasenritter began his career as a tailback before moving to safety this fall.)
If Whittington can’t go, Oregon will lean on freshman Dierre Hill Jr., who has 570 yards on 70 carries.
Oregon’s fourth-leading rusher, Jayden Limar, is in the transfer portal and not with the team. That leaves sixth-leading rusher Jay Harris — quarterback Dante Moore is the fifth — as a main option for the Ducks. Harris is also in the portal, but he has remained with the team. He has 116 yards on 26 carries.
A decision on Whittington is expected to be made after warmups.