Mariota was named on 95.16 percent of voters' ballots, the highest percentage a player has ever gotten. His percentage of the available point total was the second-highest in Heisman history at 90.9 percent. Only Troy Smith in 2006, with 91.6 of the possible Heisman points, had a larger percentage.
Mariota is the first Oregon player to win the Heisman Trophy and the 32nd quarterback to win the award. In his emotional speech, he said the award belonged to his teammates and first thanked his offensive line and then other members of his team. Among others, he also thanked Nike's Phil Knight for his contributions to Oregon football and the sacrifices that his family has made.
A native of Hawaii, he also said he hoped the award served as a steppingstone for Polynesian athletes.
This season, Mariota has 3,783 yards passing, 38 touchdowns and two interceptions. He's also rushed for 669 yards and has 14 touchdowns and has a receiving touchdown.
His 53 total touchdowns are more than 92 teams have scored on offense the entire season. And he has more than three times as many touchdowns as SMU (15 TDs), the most porous offensive team at the FBS level.
And his number of touchdowns is greater than any Heisman winner since Sam Bradford had 55 total scores when he won the award in 2008.
While Gordon, who finished second, looked like Mariota's biggest threat to the Heisman as the season unfolded, his candidacy slowed as Mariota's surged. After (temporarily) breaking the NCAA's single-game rushing mark with 408 yards against Nebraska, Gordon had 427 rushing yards combined in the next three games as his yards-per-carry declined in each.
In Mariota's final three games of the season, he had 15 total touchdowns and completed nearly 72 percent of his passes.
Not only is Mariota the fifth-straight quarterback to win the Heisman, he has a chance to be the second-straight and third in five years to win both the Heisman and the national title. Oregon plays Florida State, the defending national champions and team quarterbacked by defending Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 for a spot in the College Football Playoff Championship Game.
Alabama's Amari Cooper was third and the top five was rounded out by TCU's Trevone Boykin and Ohio State's J.T. Barrett.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Oregon's Marcus Mariota wins the 2014 Heisman Trophy
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