Is Bryan Bennett the Top Contender for Starting Quarterback?

With former quarterback Darron Thomas exiting to the NFL, one of the biggest competitions during the offseason will be to find out who the new starting quarterback will be for the team. Four players will be competing for the spot. Chip Kelly and his staff will have plenty to analyze during and away from practice, but it’s hard to imagine that sophomore Bryan Bennett is not the favorite.

Bennett will be competing with redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota, true freshman Jake Rodrigues, and walk-on Dustin Haines. Not only does he have a year under his belt, he participated in eight games last season. The spotlight was on when Thomas had to leave the game against Arizona State with both his legs injured. The team was down 24-21 in the third quarter, and Bennett didn’t disappoint. He led his team to two scoring drives and eventually beat the Sun Devils 41-27. The stat sheet didn’t explode with only two completed passes for 22 yards and five carries for 65 yards, but he was playing so well that Thomas didn’t have to return to the game.

Thomas wasn’t able to start against Colorado the following week, so Bennett would get the starting nod. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, and ran five times for 56 yards. It was a 45-2 demolition against the Buffaloes, tacking 29 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter.

For the entire year, Bennett had a quarterback rating of 164.8 with seeing a decent amount of time on the field. Those two games highlighted were also during the time when Oregon didn’t have one of their weapons, LaMichael James, who was nursing a dislocated elbow. Given the game experience and where the other quarterback competitors are at, it would be a major surprise not to see him under center in the opener against Arkansas State.

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