After what amounted to a season-long coronation for college football's most valuable player, Oregon Ducks junior quarterback Marcus Mariota has captured the 2014 Heisman Trophy - making him the first Hawaiian-born winner in the history of the award.
This marks the first Heisman in the history of the university and the first to be officially won by a Pac-12 player since USC's Matt Leinart in 2004 (USC's Reggie Bush saw his 2005 award vacated due to ineligibility).
Mariota has thrown for 38 touchdowns and has rushed for 15 more, setting a Pac-12 record for total touchdowns in a season with 53. The cool and collected junior has thrown just two interceptions in leading the 12-1 Oregon Ducks to a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
While fellow finalists Alabama WR Amari Cooper and Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon were both extremely worthy candidates in their own rights, Mariota dominated the vote by picking up more than 90% of the possible points allocated by the voting committee. Only former Ohio State QB Troy Smith (2006) has picked up a bigger percentage of the possible points in the past 50 years.
On Thursday, Marcus Mariota became the first player since Auburn's Cam Newton (2010) to win the Davey O'Brien (best quarterback), Maxwell (best player), and Walter Camp (best player) awards for the same season. He also captured the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award (best senior or fourth-year QB) on Friday night.
In the 96 seasons that the University of Oregon has fielded an intercollegiate football team, no Duck has picked up even one of these awards (let alone the Heisman) before this week.
"It's surreal. It's surreal. It really all is," Mariota said, via ESPN.com. "Growing up as a kid you always kind of see these award shows. To say that I'm a part of really this fraternity ... it's really just a blessing.
Now, with the Heisman Trophy and four other pieces of hardware to his credit, the nation's most decorated player sets his sights on delivering the University of Oregon another first - a national championship.
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