The lanky Dennis Dixon look-alike was clearly a fan favorite around Eugene, and Duck fans saw their wishes come true late last week when second-year head coach Chip Kelly finally named Thomas the starter over senior Nate Costa. Through spring drills and fall camp, neither Thomas nor Costa were able to sufficiently separate themselves from one another in the competition, ultimately leaving Kelly with a tough choice to make. 
Though Kelly refuses to compare strengths and weaknesses of his two candidates, I’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t agree that Thomas physically has a much bigger upside. His on-the-field leadership improved noticeably this offseason, and now the time comes to put the past several months of preparation into 60 minutes of strategic Oregon football.

Ryan Tomari: Darron Thomas won’t be the only quarterback at Autzen Stadium to make his first start of his collegiate career. If it’s a telling sign of things to come for the 2010 Ducks, then it’s do or die for UNM and head football coach Mike Locksley. Locksley will also have a young gun leading the way in his second year as the front man of Lobo football.
Lobo sophomore quarterback B.R. Holbrook will hit the gridiron at Oregon for the first time under center as a New Mexico starter. Holbrook saw action in five games last season but redshirted the rest of 2009 because of a bout of mononucleosis. He saw significant action in three of those five games, taking over in place of senior quarterback Donovan Porterie, but he never experienced a win.
Holbrook has looked stellar in training camp scrimmages, in which he threw one interception. But that was against a Lobo defense that had a rough go in 2009 (statistically UNM had one of the worst defenses in the nation), and it’s not comparable to that of a championship Duck defensive attack that Holbrook will have to figure out on Saturday.

LC: For Holbrook, making his first start in one of the nation’s loudest venues has to be a daunting task. But at this point it’s hard to say which is more intimidating: the Autzen faithful or the tenacious Oregon defense. As to be expected early in the season, the defense is still a few steps ahead of the offense.
Junior linebacker-turned-rover Eddie Pleasant will look to take on a role similar to that of T.J. Ward’s for the past few seasons. Pleasant has made a seamless transition into the position this offseason, showing the speed and coverage skills of a trained veteran.
In addition to that move, defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti has a trio of new faces on that side of the ball. Zac Clark and Terrell Turner will look to fill the void on the defensive line, while junior Anthony Gildon (who also started the Rose Bowl) earned the starting nod at cornerback.  

RT: Where there might be some lack of experience on the Lobo offense, Oregon and New Mexico have the same thing going on for them on the defensive side of things, and that is right here, right now. New Mexico is probably more finely tuned for the first couple of games than the offense.
Middle linebacker Carmen Messina lead the nation in tackles in 2009, but that was partly because he played, on average, nearly 90 plays per ball game. It was also easy to keep racking up tackle after tackle after tackle because so many times the New Mexico offense went three-and-out. However, don’t let those facts fool you. Messina is a great defensive player and has strong leadership on and off the field. In front of Messina is the defensive line, which was absolutely the strongest part of the Lobos’ game in 2009. That doesn’t look to change this season.
Defensive end Jonathan Rainey was the second most productive lineman in the Mountain West Conference in 2009, where he led the conference in tackles for loss. Fellow junior Jaymar Latchinson accompanies Rainey on the defensive line, and he is just as quick off the edge as Rainey. Look for these two to instill fear in opposing quarterbacks all year, as well as freshman defensive tackle Calvin Smith. Smith turned down schools such as defending national champion Alabama, Florida, Tenneessee and Florida State to join former NFL star Rubin Carter, who is the Lobos defensive line coach, to play at New Mexico. 

LC: There’s no questioning the Lobos defensive front is strong, particularly with the highly anticipated arrival of Smith, who’s expected to make a noticeable impact as a true freshman. There’s also no questioning the play of Messina. The guy’s a beast. Regardless of a disappointing offense providing limited help, Messina’s 162 tackles is still an incredible mark.
Not a single player on the Oregon roster surpassed 100 takedowns in 2009, with safety John Boyett leading the way with 90 stops.
Ultimately, the Ducks are deep on both sides of the ball, though they’ll be somewhat hindered with running back depth. Clearly sophomore Kenjon Barner will run with the first team, but after that, things get a little shaky. Senior third-stringer Remene Alston has been nursing a foot injury throughout fall camp, and behind him sit two true freshman with a lot of maturing still left to do.

RT: Obviously LaMichael James probably won’t be missed come the end of the game on Saturday. But Locksley has stated that in 2010 the Lobos will need to focus on the ground game, whether it’s to stop the run or move the chains by running the ball. Sophomore Demond Dennis was the first true freshman to lead the team in total yards from scrimmage since 2002.
He looks to become a workhorse in the Lobo offense, as well as sophomore Kasey Carrier. Carrier was one of the main reasons that New Mexico earned its only win of the 2009 season. He rushed for 87 yards on 15 carries to help the Lobos beat Colorado State, 29-27, on Nov. 21 in Albuquerque.
James Wright looks to be the beast of the group in 2010, a big bruising tailback (6-feet, 239 lbs). Wright, who will be a junior in 2010-11, helped defeat New Mexico State two years ago with a touchdown run late in the fourth quarter and had an 84-yard touchdown scamper against Air Force in 2009 (though the Lobos lost the game 37-13). The Lobo running backs might shock the world with impressive numbers in 2010, but will the young offensive line hold?