For the second year in a row the Heisman went by a landslide to a redshirt freshman with some stains on his resume, and fans on the West Coast should stop caring about the award altogether.
Stiff Armed: Marcus Mariota, the Heisman frontrunner after 8 games, didn’t even make the Top Ten in the final balloting (Scott Olmos, USA Today Sports Images).
Hampered by an injured left knee over the season’s final month, the Ducks sophomore quarterback led a 10-2 team with 3,412 yards passing, 30 tds and just 4 interceptions. He also ran for 582 yards, 7.2 yards a carry, 9 tds, including spectacular touchdown runs of 46, 71, and 57 yards. He also set a PAC-12 record with 353 pass attempts without an interception.
His stats were comparable to all the frontrunners for the award. Johnny Manziel, who won last year and finished 5th this season, went 8-4 and threw 13 interceptions for Texas A&M. Manziel’s less-than-dominating sophomore campaign in the SEC West was good enough for a trip to New York. A.J. McCarron finished second overall, though he threw for 736 fewer yards than Mariota (2676) passed for 4 fewer tds (26) and threw one more interception (5). The Alabama starter has two national championships, but he also is blessed with a better defense. The Tide’s qb ran the ball 24 times for 21 yards this season, zero touchdowns.
Closing in on Oregon’s all-time passing marks with at least one more season to play, Mariota slumped in November playing on the strained knee, but still wasn’t horrible: 83-135 (61.4%), 1129 yards, 10 TD 4 INT, 25 carries for 71 yards, and a 2-2 record. He led a last-minute, fourth quarter drive to win the Civil War going 83 yards in 9 plays for a 36-35 victory, hitting 5-7 passes, including a 12-yard touchdown strike to Josh Huff with 29 seconds to play.
The clutch drive in a rivalry game was a tremendous response to pressure in a stellar career, but didn’t make much difference in the Heisman race, which hasn’t gone to a West Coast player other than a USC Trojan since Jim Plunkett won in 1970. Only one player from the Pacific Northwest has ever won, Terry Baker of Oregon State in 1962, 51 years ago.
In all three players from the SEC West made the Heisman banquet. Tre Mason of Auburn finished 6th after rushing for 1621 yards and 22 tds. Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey stayed home, a distant 10th despite 1716 yards, 17 tds, after 1929 last season.
The bias in the Heisman is both palpable and persistent. The Northeastern United States, which boasts 6 FBS programs, gets 145 votes, the same as the entire West region, which has 22 member schools. The state of Alabama has 24 media members with a Heisman vote. Oregon has 10.
The problem is exacerbated by time zone differences: a player West of Texas often doesn’t get the same exposure. Saturday night games are no more than a line or two in East Coast newspapers and one minute, ten seconds on Sports Center.
Mariota had a solid season but not a great one. A player from Oregon would have to be spectacular to win the trophy, and players and fans out here should care less and less about an award that increasingly centers around ESPN hype and lazy group thinking.
With a game to play the Quack Attack triggerman has set the UO season record for total offense with 3,994 yards, and he’s closing in on Darron Thomas’ mark for career touchdown passes with 62 in two seasons. Thomas threw 66 in his three years as a Webfoot. After next season, Mariota will need a page of his own, likely to set career marks for yards, tds, passing efficiency and lifetime wins.
Next year, bronze the Platypus Trophy and give it to him on Senior Day, and let ESPN keep their tainted relic.
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