The Oregon Ducks are one of the top teams in the country and getting a lot of attention at the sports betting website but they do not have a proven starter at quarterback.
The Ducks rolled the dice a little bit and went with sophomore Darron Thomas over senior Nate Costa as their starting quarterback. The Ducks are heavy favorites at sports betting companies for their season opening game vs. New Mexico on Saturday.
Sports betting website odds list the Ducks as the favorites to win the Pac-10 this season. That is even without last year’s starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli who was kicked off the team. The Ducks decided to go with Thomas over Costa even though Costa is the senior.
Thomas is a Threat to Run: Thomas played in five games as a true freshman in 2008 and was 16 of 33 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He redshirted last year and it was thought that Costa would win the job. Oregon really likes to have a quarterback who can run and throw and Costa is more of a passer. Thomas can do both. He was 14 of 23 passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns in a closed scrimmage last week and it appears that performance won him the starting job.
Easy Start for Thomas: The Ducks have a very easy start to the season which should give Thomas time to get acclimated to the starting job. The Ducks should also be able to give Costa some work as well since they are going to have no problem with New Mexico, Tennessee or Portland State. The Vols have the big name of those teams but this year’s Tennessee team is not very good.
Oregon Laying 33 at Sbg global.com – The Ducks are laying 33 points to New Mexico in their home opener on Saturday. Not many people give the Lobos any chance to be competitive. Oregon has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. With Thomas at quarterback they also have a running threat and that means big problems for a rotten New Mexico defense. Oregon will not have star running back LaMichael James as he is suspended for this game but it won’t matter as the Ducks should roll.