Oregon Football: 5 Reasons to Be Excited for the 2012 Season

For college football fans, this is a dead period of having to wait and wait, and while spring practice and games give us a short reprieve, the wait drags out all the way until August. 

As the Ducks enter the offseason, Chip Kelly is still at the head of the program, but LaMichael James and Darron Thomas have moved on to the NFL. With all of the change that went on with the Oregon program, fans may be having a sense of anxiousness about what the 2012 may bring.

While there are some questions marks as the Ducks enter the 2012 season, here are five reasons to be excited about the upcoming season. 

Joe Penkala is a B/R National Featured Columnist who covers college football. You can contact him @joepenkala.

De'Anthony Thomas Playing a Bigger Role

With LaMichael James now in the NFL, De'Anthony Thomas will certainly see a larger workload. 

During the 2011 season, Thomas was able to contribute in the run, pass and special teams games, but ultimately, his touches were limited with all of the other talented players on the Oregon offense. 

Expect Thomas to see more carries, be on the field more often and give himself an opportunity to have an even better year in 2012. 

Bryan Bennett May Not Even Be the Best Quarterback on the Team

When Darron Thomas made the announcement that he would be heading to the NFL, most fans took comfort in the idea that the Ducks would be fine with Bryan Bennett. 

While Bennett certainly appears to be a great talent and had some bright moments filling in for Thomas in 2011, an exciting thing to think about is the fact that behind Bennett is Marcus Mariota, who ultimately may end up pushing Bennett for the starting position. 

Time to Gel as a Team

When the 2011 season started, Oregon was placed in a game that many thought could have been a preview of the national championship. While playing LSU was a good idea, it did not pan out for the Ducks.

This year, Oregon starts the season against Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech. This kind of start will give the Ducks an opportunity to get things going as they enter conference play. 

Nov. 3

After losing to LSU in the opener, Oregon got things turned around and was starting to look like a team that could get into the national title game. Unfortunately for the Ducks, they slept through the first half of their game against USC and put themselves in a hole that they could not get out of. 

Already USC is receiving a lot of hype entering the 2012 season, and with the way that both of these teams' schedules are set up, both should be undefeated going into their game on Nov. 3. 

Based on both teams' starting position in the polls, this could be a No.1 vs No. 2 matchup. 

A Chance at a 4-Peat

Since Chip Kelly took over as the head coach at Oregon, the Ducks have won three straight conference championships and have been the dominant team in the Pac-12.

This year, USC appears to be an early favorite, much like Stanford was last year, and this is a very good thing for the Ducks.

It appears that these two teams will not only go head-to-head on Nov. 3, but also will likely meet up in the conference title game. Either way, Oregon has a shot at something special, a fourth straight conference title.