"If you've got two quarterbacks, you have none." — John Madden
Well, what if both teams have two quarterbacks? This may be the case at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday when Memphis heads into Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, to face UNLV.
For the Rebels of UNLV, Head Coach Dan Mullen announced this week that instead of having a single starting quarterback, he will be playing both Jackson Arnold and Alex Orji on Saturday night. Meanwhile, for the Tigers, Head Coach Charles Huff has yet to announce a starter with less than a week until kickoff.
The Tigers brought in two quality transfers at quarterback this offseason:
Air Noland: A former 5-star recruit coming out of high school who took stops at Ohio State and South Carolina, but has struggled to find his place since entering college.
Marcus Stokes: A 4-star recruit coming out of high school who was committed to Florida before an off-field incident led to his offer being pulled. This led to Stokes playing at NCAA Division II West Florida, where he threw for 3,297 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2025. Stokes is my best bet to start on Saturday.
Ground Games to Rely On
Though both teams seem not to have figured out what is going to happen at quarterback, luckily they both have great running backs to hand it off to:
Memphis: They will be leaning on senior running back Dallen Hayden, who is coming off a decent year at Colorado in which he had 326 yards and a touchdown for the Buffs.
UNLV: The Rebels bring back a 1,000-yard rusher from last year in Jai'Den Thomas. Thomas rushed for 1,036 yards last year, including 12 touchdowns.
Game Prediction
So can a two-quarterback system with an elite running back beat a Memphis squad that has yet to announce a starter?
My answer: No.
Though UNLV is talented, I believe that the presumed starter for Memphis, Marcus Stokes, is the real deal. If he had ended up at Florida years ago, he would have been a household name. Now Stokes and the Tigers get a chance to show off their ability on the national stage. While Arnold and Orji will be splitting reps, the Tigers will take advantage of this uncertainty at quarterback.
The Pick
Final Score Prediction: Memphis 28, UNLV 24.
What Actually Happened
Final Score: Memphis 27, UNLV 21. Stokes and the Tigers got it done as road underdogs, right in line with the call. Marked as a win in the archive.