Dan Lanning Gives Noah Whittington Injury Update For Penn State Game

EUGENE – After an undefeated start to the season and one Big Ten win under their belt, the No. 6 Oregon Ducks are set to fly across the country to play the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions in week 5.

Coach Dan Lanning spoke to the media about playing in the “White Out” and gave a positive update on the injury status of Ducks running back Noah Whittington, who is expected to return against Penn State.

What Lanning Said

Opening Statement:

oregon ducks dan lanning big ten penn state recruiting nil transfer portal autzen stadium james franklin noah whittington — Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning walks off the field as the Oregon Ducks host the Oregon State Beavers Sept. 20, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Certainly, excited for this one. I know you guys have been thinking about this one for a long time, and now we finally can focus on it as well. I mean, Penn State is extremely talented team. They do it well in all three phases. Coach (James) Franklin runs a great organization, and they present a ton of challenges. I've said it before, but defensively, there's multiple and disruptive as anybody will play,” Lanning said.

"They got great edge play. (Dani) Dennis-Sutton is one of the better defensive edge players in the league and in the nation. They got good play in the back end as well. They do a great job overlapping and have a lot of variety of schemes. Offensively, they're really tough to prepare for because they're moving almost every play,” he continued.

“So, it just presents real challenges, just the shifts and movements and motions that they do. And have great running backs, you know, good quarterback and their wide receiver plays really stands out this year. They have some speed on the field, and then special teams are really sound, so excited for that environment. It's one that I haven't been to before, but that we've heard a lot about," Lanning said.

Running Back Noah Whittington, Wide Receiver Dillon Gresham’s Availability:

“Yeah, I think, I think we'll be able to have those guys with us. We probably could have pushed it this past week.”

On Playing In The "White Out:"

“Yeah, I mean, we played in good environments before. They've described it as, it's a good one, right? And that's part of what makes college football fun, is it's, it's a real one to get to get to go play in, and like, we've got a great atmosphere here, it's been an asset for us. I'm sure they're counting on it being an asset for them. But again, play the game, not the occasion," Lanning said.

Thoughts On Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles’ System:

“A lot of scheme variation, which he had, you know, at Ohio State, but it's a lot of the similar scheme that they carried at Ohio State. And he always has a new wrinkle. Every week you see something new that you haven't necessarily seen on film, that he's able to pull from, that he thinks defends you well. And that's always going to present a good challenge.”

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How Matayo Uiagalelei Has Adjusted To Be The ‘Focal Point’ Of The Defensive Line:

“I think before it's all said and done, you'll see some other NFL guys on our defensive line now, right? But I think Matayo’s played well. I think last game was one of his best games for us. And that doesn't always equate to necessarily sacks or those opportunities, but rush plan working together well with past game plan, he's done a good job,” Lanning said.

“And Teitum (Tuioti) and Matayo both have kind of been leaders up there, as far as setting the fronts, communicating, getting our games executed properly, you know, and what we want to be able to utilize,” Lanning added.

“And the guys inside have done a really good job as well, you know, A’Mauri (Washington), Bear (Alexander) really coming along. Tionne (Gray), Terrance (Green), you know, we've had a variety of guys that we have out there in the field, Blake (Purchase), that have all done a really good job for us being able to operate out there.”

Balancing Last Season Matchup With Personnel Changes:

“Just that you assess what was good and bad from last season. You recognize where they've changed and what they've adjusted, knowing that they've made some changes. They have different personnel in some spots. And then, you know, same with us, but it's a combination of both," Lanning said.

How Rotating Players May Limit Them:

“I think the strength of numbers is going to be a huge asset for us as we go throughout the season. And again, you know how many people you see, what you see is going to be based on performance throughout practice and what that looks like. But if we have guys that can play winning football, we're going to utilize them, and that's going to pay off in the long run for us.”

The Growth Of His Cornerbacks:

“I think just the experience develops confidence, and confidence is going to lead to good execution and the ability to take risks at times when it's needed, you know attack welcome make plays on the ball like all those things are going to develop over time so the more snaps they get the better they've gotten.”

What Stand Out About, Quarterback Drew Allar And Penn State’s Offense:

“I mean, there's, they have some guys who can stretch the field, they run good routes, and the quarterback can make all the throws, got a big arm,” Lanning said.

“You know, they throw more intermediate passing game and shot game than we've really seen, and that's one of the great compliments to the run game, you know, is what they're able to build off of that run game with shots down the field. So, they have the guys that can go get it. They have a guy who can go throw it.”

His Thoughts On Coach James Franklin:

“When you win like he's won. I mean, he did it at Vanderbilt. He's done it at Penn State. He's had a lot of success. He's had coordinator changes and still been able to have success. They've adapted with times. I think they're one of the better teams in utilizing the personnel they have,” Lanning started.

“You saw what, what their attack looked like last year with Tyler Warren, now what their attack looks like this year, with their backs, their quarterback, you know, schematically on defense, willingness to change and adapt. You know, I think there's been a lot of variety that he's shown over the years, and ability to win.”

How Recent Tough Environments Prepares Them For Beaver Stadium:

“I mean, those moments prepare you for that. And whether it's crowd noise being involved in practice, you know, things like that, there's a lot of different things that you can utilize, you know, in those moments. You know, taking away communication with the coach to player headset, right? And so you have to operate from a different operation point there, there's, there's a lot of things that you can do in practice to help that.”

The Challenge Of Keeping The Focus One Game At A Time:

“I think our guys are mature, and they've been able to handle that well that, you know, that hasn't been mentioned in our program. You know, in my role, at times, you have to look long, big picture. You have to look down the road, not just necessarily this game, but a lot of games, but within the week, the prep for our players has been really focused and done a good job handling that.”

On Oregon’s Run Defense:

“Part of it became, you know, was played a little bit based on the type of game it became and what we were willing to give up and what we weren't. But ultimately, that's not the standard. You got to play the standard. And we played to the standard. And several games last year, that was not a game that we play to the standard when it came to our rushing defense,” Lanning said.

“And there's things we could have done better schematically, and then there's things that technically, we can be a lot better at as well. So, it's certainly been a focus for us. We've seen highlights of us playing really good defense at times, run defense this season. We've seen times when we haven't,” Lanning continued.

so we got to make sure that we put our guys in great position to have success and then do a good job against this rushing attack. You're not going to hold these guys to zero yards rushing. They're really good back so we have to be able to run the ball effectively on our side of the ball, and we have to be able to stop the run in this game.”

How Preparation Changes:

“It doesn't change. Your preparation doesn't change because it's Penn State, right? That's more of a preparation for what you do every single week, and starting fast is important for us in each game, but certainly matters in games like this,” Lanning said.

“When the crowds involved, that's something that you can attack early. If you start fast, that can be an asset. But there's going to be highs and lows in this game regardless, right? There's gonna be plays that they win. There's gonna be plays that we win. It's really about the next play. That's the next most important play.”

What He’s Seen From Tionne Gray:

“I mean, it doesn't really matter who runs out the first game. You touch the field for us you’re at starter, right? And we need multiple guys that can be able to play inside for us. Tionne certainly did some good things. Bear’s done some good things, right? To me, it doesn't really matter who's out there for the first snap, because we're in a role. But Tionne has proven that you be a guy can play winning football for us.”

His Thoughts On Tight End Luke Reynolds:

“That's one of the things. You go back even to their offense coordinator’s time at Kansas, he's always done a really good job of utilizing tight ends, right? They've always had a lot of targets they pop out of the ground. Really compliments their run game the way they use them. So, you know, they're always going to be a threat, and somebody you have to be alert for.”

How The Team Has Looked At The Week-To-Week Matchup:

“I think our teams have really good focus on, what's the task at hand? Who's the opponent? What do we need to get prepared for? What's it look like in each game? And in certain ways, I think we've leveled up every single week, and our operation, our standard, our execution, that's got to continue. You look for growth from week one to week 4. We're a better team today than we were week 1. We have to keep growing.”