For the second time in five years the Oregon Ducks failed to win their first National Championship, falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes 42-20. However, despite a lackluster effort overall from the Ducks, Marcus Mariota did nothing to harm his status as the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mariota performed well against the Buckeyes, completing 24-of-37 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns. Mariota detractors will point out that the Ducks scored less than half of the 45.4 points per game they averaged on the season and had their lowest point total of the season, but this was not all on Mariota’s shoulders.

The Ducks failed to establish any kind of run game, and the only way their defense could stop the Buckeyes offense was if they turned the ball over. This could of been a very different game if a wide-open Dwayne Stanford didn’t drop a deep pass from Mariota in the first quarter on third-and-long, but crucial drops and inefficiency in the red zone plagued the Ducks on offense all night.

Mariota was dragged down by his supporting cast Monday night, but he still looked far better in defeat than the other player many believe is his rival for the first pick in the draft, Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston.

Winston had decent stats, completing 29-of-45 passes for 348 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but he was facing a defense that allowed 538 yards to a Buckeyes team playing a third-string quarterback and was ranked 108 out of 125 teams in the nation in passing yards allowed per game. Mariota was facing a Buckeyes unit ranked 28th in the nation and still put up better stats by comparison. Winston also had the NCAA version of Mark Sanchez‘s “butt fumble” when he lost an embarrassing fumble that slipped out of his hands and resulted in a Ducks touchdown that sealed the Seminoles fate in the Rose Bowl.

The Ducks might have failed to win their first National Championship, but Mariota was the one bright spot for the Ducks in the contest. He looked far superior to Winston this season and did absolutely nothing to hurt his position as the top overall pick in this year’s NFL draft.

Phillip Jacques is a Pac-12 Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google