Ducks' Thomas Stellar in First Season as Starter

Oregon football fans had known for a while that Darron Thomas was the Ducks' quarterback of the future.

That future wasn't supposed to begin in 2010.

But because it did, the Ducks are set to play for the national championship on January 10, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona.

In his first season as starter, Thomas led the Ducks to a 12-0 regular-season record, a berth in the BCS National Championship game, a Pac-10 Conference title, a No. 2 ranking in the Top 25 polls and the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings. He was named the Pac-10 Conference's second-team quarterback after finishing with 2,518 yards and 28 touchdowns with seven interceptions, completing 195-of-321 attempts for a 60.7 completion percentage and a 151.1 passer efficiency rating.

Thomas also rushed for 492 yards and five touchdowns.

Jeremiah Masoli was a good quarterback for Oregon in 2009, leading the Ducks to a Pac-10 Conference championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl before being dismissed from the team by coach Chip Kelly following a series of off-the-field incidents after the season.

But I don't think the Ducks would have gone 12-0 in 2010 with Masoli under center. He had a bad habit of starting games slowly, often taking a full quarter or more to settle down and get into a rhythm. And although he was a shiftier runner, he was nowhere near the passer Thomas is.

In contrast, Thomas rarely starts games slowly. He completed his first 11 pass attempts in the Ducks' 60-13 victory over UCLA on October 21, 2010.

At 6-foot-3, Thomas is four inches taller than Masoli, helping him stand tall in the pocket and throw downfield passes over the middle better than Masoli did. He also has a much better arm.

All in all, Thomas has handled his first season at the helm with poise, and has kept Oregon's prolific, fast-paced offense rolling, displaying an impressive grasp of the spread option.

Ducks fans knew Thomas had the potential to be great. As a true freshman in 2008, he entered a game against Boise State and brought Oregon from a 24-point deficit to a near-victory over the Broncos at home.

Down 37-13, Thomas engineered a rally that came up just short. He threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes and wound up 13-for-25 for 210 yards and one interception in about 15 minutes of play.

Best of all, his energy and passing ability energized the Ducks and sent a bit of electricity through the crowd, which had watched in frustration as quarterback Chris Harper went 0-for-3 with two interceptions after Masoli left the game in the first quarter with a concussion.

Given a bit more time, it's tough to argue that Thomas would not have brought the Ducks all the way back to a victory that day. Head coach Mike Bellotti was trying to save Thomas' redshirt season, hoping he could get through the game without needing the true freshman.

No matter. With Masoli returning as starter in 2009, the Ducks merely redshirted Thomas that year. After Masoli led Oregon to the Rose Bowl that season, he was hailed as an early Heisman Trophy candidate for 2010, and it was assumed that Thomas would spend his redshirt sophomore season backing up Masoli.

That all changed in March, when Kelly suspended Masoli for the entire 2010 season following his guilty plea to a burglary charge stemming from a theft at a campus fraternity house. Thomas immediately became a contender for the starting job, expected to battle for the role with senior Nate Costa.

In June, Masoli was cited by police for marijuana possession, and Kelly promptly kicked him off the team.

By that point, Masoli had become an afterthought for 2010, anyway. The Ducks and their fans had moved on, and were looking for either Thomas or Costa to emerge as the new starter.

The two battled well into fall camp, with Thomas finally being named the starter on August 27.

Four months and 12 games later, the Ducks are headed to Glendale, where they'll face Auburn for the national championship.

They wouldn't be in that spot without Thomas at quarterback.

Sources:
Jeremiah Masoli Bio, GoDucks.com
Darron Thomas Bio, GoDucks.com
Boise State vs Oregon (Sep 20, 2008), GoDucks.com
Oregon Ducks Cumulative Season Statistics, GoDucks.com