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Sunday, January 11, 2015
National Championship Preview: Marcus Mariota
Season highlight: In the past four contests, Marcus Mariota has been at the top of his game. He threw for at least 300 yards against Colorado, Oregon State, Arizona and Florida State, and completed an average of 71.7 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and one interception. This string of great games came after he posted his worst statistical outing of the season against Utah. Additionally, Mariota has rushed for 207 yards in that span and scored seven rushing touchdowns.
Strengths: Mariota is incredibly talented at keeping plays alive and keeping his eyes downfield. Several times this season plays have broken down and Mariota has either scrambled outside to find the open receiver or he’s taken off with the ball for decent yardage. Because of the variety of weapons at both receiver and running back, Mariota has the luxury of targeting a multitude of guys in any one game, which can create a major strain on the opposing defense.
Weaknesses: Mariota doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses, but one that has hurt him at times this season has been the play of his offensive line. He went through a stretch this season where he was on the ground a lot and consequently made some costly mistakes. Getting pressure on Mariota is the key to breaking up his rhythm, but in the past couple weeks that’s been easier said than done. Mariota has not been sacked in the past two games and the team has only allowed three tackles for loss.
Overview: It’s been rare not to be awestruck by something Mariota does in a game. Whether it’s making an amazing pass, executing the read option or just creating a play where there was no play to be created, Mariota has spent the season dazzling viewers and frustrating opponents.
And Monday night could solidify his legacy as the best quarterback to ever wear an Oregon uniform.
He’s already captured the first Heisman Trophy in Oregon history and if he walks off the field at AT&T Stadium on Monday night victorious, he will have brought the university its first national title. Only 10 other quarterbacks have won a national title and the Heisman.
His career numbers are ridiculous. He’s thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game he’s played and he’s rushed for more than 700 yards in each of his three seasons. He’s completed nearly 67 percent of his career passes for 10,463 yards 103 touchdowns. He’s also added 29 touchdowns on the ground. He’s on pace to have the lowest interception percentage in college football history with just 13 interceptions on 1,130 passing attempts.
Several defenses have taken their best shot at stopping him and many have failed. Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee said Saturday that the key to stopping Mariota is getting lined up and staying mentally focused. But when Mariota is pushing the tempo and intentionally trying to create confusion amongst the defense, knowing what you’re supposed to do and actually executing it are two very different things.
In the Ducks only loss this season — a 31-24 decision against Arizona — the offensive line struggled and Mariota was under pressure the entire game. If Ohio State can get similar pressure on the Ducks offensive line — the Buckeyes’ speed has disrupted offensive lines all season — that could be the key to slowing down the Ducks and creating an advantage.
In the secondary, Ohio State players need to keep their assignments. Oregon receiver Devon Allen said Sunday that every receiver is hot on every snap. He said a player could run one route 15 times during the week of practice and never see the ball, and then be the team’s leading receiver during the game. Mariota doesn’t discriminate and he doesn’t lock in on a specific receiver. He plays within the flow of the game, which often leaves defenses scrambling.
Mariota has faced some good defensive fronts this season and its been a mixed bag. He struggled against Arizona in the first meeting and against Utah and even had some issues against UCLA. However, no one has been better under center in the back quarter of the season than Mariota, and if he continues his hot streak, Ohio State is going to be in for a long evening.
For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
And don’t forget to keep up with all of Graham’s thoughts, witty comments and college football discussions on Facebook
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - National Championship Preview: Marcus Mariota
If you need a fourth down conversion, who is getting the football?
At From the Marbles, we end every interview with a staple question that has nothing to do with the interview topic at hand to let our subjects have some fun and let their imaginations run wild for a moment. We wanted to give Ohio State and Oregon players the same opportunity.
We settled on the question "If you were facing a critical fourth down with two yards to go, who are you giving the ball to and why?" The two yards took out the overwhelming possibility of a quarterback sneak and hopefully brought a pass play into the equation.
There were conditions on the question too. To prevent any creativity stifling, teammates couldn't be chosen. And the pool of options was not limited to current college or professional players. The possibilities were almost endless.
The most popular answer? Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch. He was more popular with Oregon players than with Ohio State players, but he had by far the most support among our sample size. Second was Jerome Bettis, even though his playing career ended over nine years ago.
Other former running backs got support too. Ohio State offensive lineman Joel Hale picked Edgerrin James because he grew up a sports fan and Guy Ferrelli dove back into the early 2000s and chose Mike Alstott.
Oregon players liked to give former Ducks support. RB Byron Marshall said he'd choose New England Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount or Carolina Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart, while OL Doug Brenner chose Baltimore Ravens DT Haloti Ngata.
Oregon OL Hamani Stevens also would pick a defensive lineman, albeit one who has scored a rushing touchdown in the NFL. He went with someone he classified as a childhood idol in former Chicago Bears DT William Perry, who had three touchdowns in 1985.
Then there were the choices that got creative.
Ohio State OL Pat Elflein chose his dad. Why? His dad, Ken, is a concrete contractor. Carrying around bags of concrete probably means you could get two yards if necessary. Heck, his nickname is Ken-crete.
Oregon RB Royce Freeman, the team's leading rusher, said he'd take running backs coach Gary Campbell, who played fullback at UCLA. Campbell has been with the team since 1983. His response to Freeman's answer?
"He'd put me in the backfield?" Campbell said, laughing. "That's good. I'd like to be there."
"I would put my pads down and just drive everybody into the end zone."
Batman, the Flash and Superman were also chosen. Snorlax even came up as an option among Oregon's offensive lineman, which led to a debate about its mobility. What is Snorlax? It's a Pokemon character that weighs over 1,000 pounds and stands nearly seven feet tall.
But the best and most creative option was easily the scenario Ohio State RB/WR (and emergency quarterback) Jalin Marshall created.
"I'm going to take you back to 1993. Episode 2, season 3 of the Fresh Prince," Marshall said. "I'm giving the ball to Will Smith. Fourth and two, mark it down. He's getting the first."
And what about Carlton and Uncle Phil?
"Uncle Phil at center. Carlton at fullback ... Uncle Phil, he's going to push the [nose tackle] out, work up to the mike backer, I've got a guard, I'm not going to tell you who that is, he's going to kick out to the three technique ... I'm going to hand to Will, he's going to go right up the middle, make the safety miss and go score."
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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 - If you need a fourth down conversion, who is getting the football?
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