Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Oregon will take the field tonight with a conference championship on the line, a trip to the playoff in their sights and a shot at revenge for an early-season loss. Their quarterback has even more pressure on his right arm, as Marcus Mariota is trying to do two things a Ducks signal-caller has never accomplished: win the Heisman Trophy and lead his team to a national championship.
Outside of Jameis Winston and the departed Johnny Manziel, there is no other quarterback who has dominated water cooler discussions than Mariota. Over the past three years in Eugene, the redshirt junior has tossed 99 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions including only two giveaways this season. In a year in which the Heisman has been an afterthought, he will be a certain finalist and a big game tonight against Arizona could secure him the hardware.
Before a trip to New York next weekend, Mariota has chance to do something he and the Ducks have yet to do with him in the shotgun: win a Pac-12 championship. The prior two seasons they’ve won plenty of games but not enough to reach this stage. Tonight they can put the naysayers to bed with a win and continue the march to something much more special — and they’ll need Mariota to do it.
If he plays well and the offense is clicking, Ducks fans can start reserving seats in the Rose Bowl. The Wildcats came up and bit them earlier this season, but to do it again will be a difficult task. Oregon is healthier now than in their first meeting, and Mariota is coming in on fire. In his last three games, he and the entire Ducks offense has looked unstoppable while he’s thrown for 10 touchdowns and ran for another four.
Before a trip to New York, the Rose Bowl and then a meeting with Roger Goodell on a stage in April, it comes down to tonight for Mariota. It’s the biggest game of his college career and one of the biggest in Oregon football history as they look to finally reach college football’s summit. They hope they have the right guy to lead the way.
Billy Dowling is a NCAAF/ACC Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bdowling33 or add him to your network on Google.
