Meet The Two Oregon Freshmen Ready To Make Ducks History Under Dan Lanning

The Oregon Ducks' running back duo of Dierre Hill Jr. and Jordon Davision burst out onto the scene this year. As true freshmen, the duo rushed for over 1,00 yards in the regular season and are on track to becoming stars in college football.

Oregon Ducks dan lanning Dante moore Jordon Davison Dierre Hill Jr. Penn State Nittany Lions Notre Dame Fighting Irish NIL | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The Oregon Ducks have one of the best running back duos in college football. And they are only freshmen.

Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. provided the Ducks' with an electric one-two combo behind starting running back Noah Whittington. The freshmen combined for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns during the regular season.

Freshmen Bursting Onto The Scene

Nov 22, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Jordon Davison (0) scores a touch during the first half against the Southern California Trojans at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

It's been a year to remember for the Ducks' ground game this season. Whittington have provided a stable presence in the backfield in the 10 games he's played in. In the regular season, he rushed for 774 yards and six touchdowns.

Davison ran for 535 yards and 13 touchdowns, meanwhile Hill accumulated 481 yards and four touchdowns.

The two became stars seemingly overnight as coming into the season, it looked like they would be buried on the depth chart with Makhi Hughes, Da'Juan Riggs, Jayden Limar, and Noah Whittington all ahead of them. But the duo stayed consistent and eventually earned carries early in season and both evolved into bigger roles as the year progressed.

At this rate, Davison and Hill Jr. are poised to make history in Lanning's system and dominate in the Big Ten for years to come. Former Ducks running back Royce Freeman set the record with 18 rushing touchdowns in his true freshmen season, but Davison is close behind with 13.

Thanks to Oregon's depth at the position, the single-season rushing record is far from reach. LaMichael James owns the freshman record with 1,546 yards in a single season, while Freeman holds the outright record with 1,836 rushing yards in a season.

Former Ducks star Kenjon Barner set Oregon's single-game rushing record against USC, rushing for 321 yards in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2012. Could either Hill or Davison catch that number?

Jordon Davison on his Relationship With Dierre Hill Jr.

Davison opened up about how he immediately clicked with Dierre Hill Jr.

“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. 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.”

"We're kind of like opposite personalities. I'm a bit more quieter. He's a loud one, but we complement each other very well. And I just love Dierre. I love being around him. I love being around everybody in the running back room. They all brought me in as a brother, and they all helped me grow as a player and a person," Davison continued.

Oregon's History Of Running Back Duos

Nov 29, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning during the second half against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

It shouldn't come as a surprise to the Ducks having another powerful running back duo. Over the course of Dan Lanning's tenure at Oregon, he has always had at least one 1,000-yard rusher and one 500-yard rusher. But it looks like that trend will end this year with the emergence of Davison and Hill in addition to Whittington.

Lanning's first year at Oregon in 2022 saw the emergence of Bucky Irving and Whittington. Irving ran for 1,058 yards and Whittington rumbled for 779 yards. The following season in 2023, it was Irving with 1,180 yards and Jordan James with 759 yards as Whittington nursed a torn ACL. Last year in 2024, James went for 1,267 yards and Whittington ran for 540 yards.

Add in Oregon running back coach Ra'Shaad Samples, who is among the best position coaches in the country, and it looks likely the trend of having two great running backs will continue.

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Finding Recent Comparisons

Nov 22, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) celebrates scoring against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Having multiple starting-caliber running backs isn't something that is extremely uncommon in college football, just take a look at Notre Dame and Penn State for example.

The Fighting Irish have Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Love has garnered most of the attention this season and rightfully so as he is a Heisman Trophy finalist after rushing for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns. But Price is no slouch himself. He ran for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns playing as the No. 2 back for Notre Dame.

At Penn State, Kaytron Allen became the program's all-time leading rusher this year. He ran for 1,303 yards and 15 touchdowns, while Nicholas Singleton ran for 549 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The blueprint is there for Hill and Davison to reach national recognition. Considering they are only in their first season of college football, the Ducks' freshmen could potentially become their best running back duo in program history.