Dan Lanning Praises Utah's Ability To Overcome Injuries Ahead Of Season-Deciding Game

On Saturday in Salt Lake City, there is essentially a playoff game between No. 13 Utah and No. 8 Oregon.

Both teams have Pac-12 title and College Football Playoff aspirations, but a loss for either team will likely effectively knock them out of the running as they are both sitting at 6-1. Oregon got the best of Utah last season winning by a score of 20-17, and are looking to beat the Utes again.

However, the two teams have great respect for one another, as Oregon head coach Dan Lanning recently praised Kyle Whittingham for his ability to overcome all of the injuries Utah has been plagued with this year.

“The amount of injuries that they’ve dealt with, and for him to be able to utilize defensive personnel on offense and shuffle positions and utilize offensive linemen at tight end and I think it’s just really impressive,” Lanning said.

Lanning continued explaining that while everyone has known about Whittingham's greatness as a coach, this season has only emphasized it.

“You know, everyone’s always known that he’s a great coach," said Lanning. "But the way that he’s been able and his staff has been able to utilize the people they have, you know, I know the beginning the year he spoke about the depth of his team, it’s starting to really show up. He has good depth, but they’re utilizing people in different ways than they anticipated when the year started and he’s done a great job coaching that group.”

Lanning isn't the only person to praise Whittingham this week, as Urban Meyer also went as far as to call him the best coach in college football. Something that Whittingham is certainly making a case for as he has lost around 10 key players for the season in October alone, yet still has Utah in the thick of things.

The Ducks come into Salt Lake City as 6.5-point favorites, and with a 68.7% chance to win according to ESPN.