Preview: Arkansas State Red Wolves at No. 5 Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks will be debuting a new starting quarterback against Arkansas State on Saturday night.

By John Breech

Aug 30, 2012 at 3:50 pm ET • 2 min read

Kickoff: Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Spread: Oregon by 37

Watchability: It's not quite the must-see event that Oregon's 2011 opener against LSU was or anything close to that, but the Ducks' game against Arkansas State will be a nice way for college football fans to cap off the opening Saturday of the season.

Shining stars: Oregon: RB Kenjon Barner. After three years of playing behind current 49er LaMichael James, Barner will be the lead man in the backfield. A big game against Arkansas State would be a great way for Barner to start off his senior year. Arkansas State: QB Ryan Aplin. The Red Wolves are the defending champs of the Sun Belt conference thanks in large part to Aplin's play. Last year, the dual threat QB passed for 3,588 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 588 yards and 10 scores.

Who could steal the show: Oregon: RB/KR/WR De'Anthony Thomas. Thomas has the potential to steal the show in every game Oregon plays this season. The sophomore is a triple-threat who will only be limited by the amount of times he touches the ball. Arkansas State: WR Taylor Stockemer. With 756 yards in 2011, Stockemer was the fifth-leading receiver in the Sun Belt last season. With the graduation of the Red Wolves' No. 1 receiver Dwayne Frampton, Stockemer could become ASU's new go-to guy.

You going? Ranking the road trip: For the first time since 1999, there's a chance Autzen Stadium might not be sold out for an Oregon home game. A non-sellout Autzen Stadium is not a fun Autzen Stadium. Well, it's still fun, but it's more fun when it's sold out.

Magic number for Oregon: 40. Under Chip Kelly, the Ducks are 27-1 when scoring 40 or more points, including an 11-0 record last season. There's a good chance the Ducks improve that mark to 28-1 against Arkansas State.

Magic number for Arkansas State: 0. Saturday will mark the first time the Red Wolves have played Oregon or any Pac-12 team in football.

The game comes down to: Chip Kelly. If Kelly wants to give new quarterback Marcus Mariota some serious playing time, he may keep the Ducks' offense in for four quarters and Oregon could win by 50. If Kelly decides to give his number two's some playing time, Oregon may only win by 30. We're going to split the difference with our pick.

Prediction: Oregon 56, Arkansas State 14

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