PASADENA – It was the third week of August and Darren Carrington displayed the simple mentality he possessed. After redshirting his first season at Oregon, he wanted to be a part of something. He wanted to contribute.
“Honestly, I’m not even just saying this, I’m just trying to be the best teammate and help wherever I can,” Carrington said just a week before the 2014 season kicked off.
Almost an entire football season later, and playing on the biggest stage of his collegiate career, Carrington then said something to wide receiver Devon Allen following the opening kickoff. Allen had limped off the field with an apparent knee injury and his day was already over. Carrington wanted to let him know what he’d do in his absence.
He wasn’t just going to contribute, he was going to dominate.
“When Devon went down, I told him I said it’s all good I got you,” Carrington said.  “That’s my brother… I just wanted to put him on my back and ball out today.”
Carrington led all receivers Thursday with seven catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdown grabs of 56 and 30 yards, respectively,  in the third quarter played a large part in Oregon’s sudden breakaway from Florida State.
Behind 34 points off turnovers and an electric offensive pace, Oregon defeated the Seminoles 59-20 in front of an announced crowd of 91,322 at the Rose Bowl. It is a game that now sends Oregon to a place it has only been once before. And Carrington played one of the biggest parts.
“You can see it on the field, he’s a reason why we won tonight,” Bralon Addison, who missed the entire season due to injury, said.
It’s a progressive and steady rise that the 6-foot-2, 191-pound redshirt freshman has taken throughout the Fall. Through the first 12 games of the season he had just 19 catches and a single touchdown to his name. But, his raw capabilities among his teammates and coaches were well known.
Better yet, Carrington never stopped working.
“Our slogan I really take to heart,” Carrington said. “Even when you’re tired, you just got to go out there and win that day.”
He’s defined that mantra during Oregon’s postseason run. In the Pac-12 Championship and on Thursday, he’s combined for 14 catches, 291 yards and three touchdowns.
“We always knew he had the talent,” senior wide receiver Keanon Lowe said. “He can do a lot of things and he had that mindset where he wanted to contribute.
“His transition was now he wants to dominate.”
As Carrington’s father says, “big time players step up in big games.” It was the exact thing he said to his sister DiJonai the night before the game and acts as an example to the type of player he’s become in a Duck uniform. With the most on the line, he’s come through in the most vital ways.
As he spoke after the game, he called the feeling “amazing” and a “blessing.” But he also said that he was just lucky to be in the position that any one of his teammates could have taken advantage of. He just had to do his job, and when Marcus Mariota put it in the air, he “had to go get it.”
“Darren’s grown up a ton this year,” offensive coordinator Scott Frost said. “He’s starting to realize that potential. I can’t wait to see where his career goes.”
Right now, his career is at a point where everything he was visualizing coming into this game came together.
“I was dreaming all week,” Carrington said, letting loose an infectious smile. “It all came true.”
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise