College Football Playoff Only Intensifies Scrutiny For Oregon’s Marcus Mariota
By Alex Drude
@Alex_Drude
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oregon QB and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota has never played on this big a stage with as many eyes watching as he will Thursday in the Rose Bowl during the first-ever CFB Playoff game against Florida State.
Because the CFB Playoff has never happened before, every player taking the field in Pasadena will be under a microscope. Because FSU is the undefeated reigning National Champion and the Ducks are favored in the game, it is obvious that the Seminoles are going to pull out all the stops against Mariota. Because Jameis Winston plays for FSU, the Heisman winner vs. Heisman winner storyline – just the third time that’s ever happened in a bowl — is magnified.
The nearest Mariota has gotten to this in a game situation was the 2013 Fiesta Bowl after his freshman year. It is more notable now for being the last game as head coach for Chip Kelly than it is for anything else. Mariota was about as close to an afterthought during that game as a starting QB can be. It was the last time anyone would put Super Mario in the background. He has been front and center of every Oregon football game the last two seasons.
He’s never crumbled in public. The most emotion he’s ever shown was during his Heisman Trophy speech, but he’s never been under this big of a microscope. Even non-football fans know his name because of the Heisman.
NFL fanbases like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans — the teams with picks No. 1 and 2 in the NFL Draft, who disparaged the man because he didn’t play in the SEC — are now hoping he’s the upcoming savior of the franchise. Ohio State and Alabama fans, who ignored him on general principle, have to pay attention to the Rose Bowl because of the whole CFB Playoff thing.
Personally, I bet it’s been really different to be Mariota over the past month. It’s one thing to wander around Eugene as the Ducks’ starting QB. If you’re the Ducks’ starting QB who just won the school’s first Heisman and you’re widely expected to leave for the NFL Draft once the season is over, I’ll bet he’s been pestered everywhere from people who usually left him alone.
If Mariota is going to crack, it’ll be in a rich Los Angeles suburb on a sunny afternoon of the first day of 2015 with most of America watching. But as he’s been so incredibly stable as the stakes have gotten higher and higher, it’s hard to imagine anything but Super Mario soaring to new heights – and the CFB Playoff Final.
Alex Drude is a Pac-12 writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Alex_Drude. “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google+.
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