In the run-up to the 2017 college football season, The Oregonian/OregonLive is previewing each of the opponents the Oregon Ducks will meet this fall. Today, it's Southern Utah.

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The basics

Game date: Sept. 2

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Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene

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Time/channel: 5:15 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Networks

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Coach: Demario Warren (6-5, one season)

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2016 record: 6-5

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Notable 2016 stats

Ranked 121st nationally among the FCS in passing yards allowed — giving up an average of 301 per game — in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Thunderbirds were stingier against the run, ranking 52nd, though that still represented an average of 154 yards allowed on the ground.

Ranked 53rd (219.4 yards) in passing offense and 48th (165.1 yards) rushing but converted just 33.1 percent of the time on third down, a conversion rate that ranked 95th.

Due in large part to coughing up just five fumbles, SUU ranked ninth in turnover margin.

Total defense: 108th (455 yards per game)

Total offense: 59th (384.5)

In the red zone, ranked 40th in offensive efficiency and 51st defensively.

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Early storyline

In his first game as Oregon’s coach, Willie Taggart will be seeking to make a statement about the explosiveness of his Gulf Coast offense and progress of coordinator Jim Leavitt’s defense. The Thunderbirds return 42 lettermen, six returning starters on offense and eight on defense, but were beset by a rash of injuries last season and lack the depth of a Power Five team. (Only a handful of starters played in April’s spring game.) Offensively, SUU graduated running back Malik Brown and receiver Mike Sharp, each of whom earned all-Big Sky honors. The Thunderbirds opened the 2016 season against another Pac-12 school, Utah, losing 24-0.

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The offensive player you should know: James Felia, running back

Felia will have an expanded role after the graduation of Brown, who rushed for 1,027 yards last season. Felia rushed for 154 yards in 2016 and will be helped in finding room to run if quarterback Patrick Tyler — who rose from third on the depth chart to starter within a matter of months in his first season at SUU — can poke holes in Oregon’s secondary.

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The defensive player you should know: Chineda Ahanonu, junior linebacker

Ahanonu didn’t play the past two seasons while serving his Mormon mission, but has an eye-popping track record. In 2014, he was a second-team All-Big Sky selection after a team-leading 152 tackles, with 8 1/2 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Had just Ahanonu’s 76 unassisted tackles that season counted, he still would have ranked tied for fourth on his team. His return will add talent to an SUU linebacker group that already boasts a headliner in senior first-team honoree Mike Needham, who had a team-leading 76 tackles and five interceptions last season.

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Last year against the Ducks

Did not play.

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Quotable

"Our goal was to get better and stay healthy. We sat down right before spring ball, I told the coaches that, I told the players that. We stayed healthy today and got a lot of young work in. Coaches were getting frustrated, but it was all young guys." — Demario Warren to the Cedar City Spectrum on April 15.