The pundits have spoken and have made predictions about what 2013 will hold for college football, specifically a zero-to-hero quarterback from the west coast, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.
Mariota, a redshirt sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, was ranked 123 for quarterbacks in the 2011 rankings. With a 68.5 completion percentage, 32 TDs, and nearly 3000 passing yards, his #6 ranking at the end of the 2012 season (his redshirt freshman season) caused the college football world to remember the name, Mariota.
Entering the 2013 season, Mariota is one of this year’s golden boys. But does he have what it takes to lead Oregon to victory at the Rose Bowl this January?
Taking a look back at some of the most recent preseason golden boy quarterbacks leaves one to question if this preseason factor is enough to bring the Waterford football home.
2012: Matt Barkley and his USC Trojans were both ranked #1 in the preseason. The Trojans made the history books that year, but as the first team since the 1964 Ole Miss Rebels to go from #1 in the AP Poll to unranked. Needless to say, their 7-6 finish was not what they hoped for, nor the pundits predicted.
2011: Pick a golden boy: Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Kellen Moore (Boise State). The most successful out of that group was Kellen Moore who led Boise State to a 12-1 season. Luck and the Stanford Cardinals also did well, ending the season 11-2 and tied with Oregon for first place in the North Division. They did not get to play in the Pac12 Championship game because of their head-to-head loss to Oregon earlier in the season. But the top ranked preseason QB that year, Terrelle Pryor, led the Buckeyes to their first non-winning season since 1999.
2010: All of the spring and summer talk was about FSU’s Christian Ponder. He led the Seminoles to a 10-4 season and a spot in the ACC Championship game. Which, they lost.
In fact, the last time a preseason top ranked QB took his team all the way was Tim Tebow in 2009. The time before that? Matt Leinart with his 2004 Trojans.
The bottom line is that based on these patterns and despite Mariota’s ideal 6’4” 211 lb. build, his razor-sharp accuracy (only six interceptions last year) and uncanny athleticism (nearly 800 yards rushing, five rushing TDs and one reception for a TD), the Ducks will need more in order to win in Pasadena.
Fortunately, the NCAA sanctions that were filed Wednesday against Oregon will have little effect on their 2013 BCS championship dream.
-Lindsay Simpson
@lindsaysimpson
lindsay.projectcfb@gmail.com
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