In the days leading up to the 2015 Rose Bowl, the Emerald will take a unit-by-unit look at Oregon and Florida State, determining which team has the edge going into the showdown on Jan. 1 in Pasadena. Today, we’ll look at each team’s quarterbacks.
Marcus Mariota vs. Jameis Winston. For everything that the matchup between No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Florida State includes, the premise revolves around each team’s quarterbacks.
The billing features the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner in Winston and the most recent winner in Mariota. Both have combined for 7,344 yards passing and 62 touchdown passes this season.
They are the most well-accomplished players meeting in a bowl game since Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Tim Tebow (Florida) squared off in the 2009 National Championship.
In addition, they are the most NFL-ready quarterbacks in this year’s class of signal callers. It’s been widely considered  that Mariota will be the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft if he declares for it. Winston isn’t far behind as far as his on-field performance is concerned.
With that said, let’s look at what the two bring into this matchup, as well as what their opponents are saying about each:
Marcus Mariota
– Mariota is the first player in college football history to throw for over 30 touchdowns as a freshman (32), sophomore (31) and a junior (38).
– Mariota hasn’t thrown an interception this season when facing teams ranked in the AP top 25. He’s completed 76-of-122 passes for 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns.
– Mariota has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 39 games of his career. In that time, Oregon has a record of 35-4.
– Mariota has been more efficient as a passer in the second half of games this season. In the second half, Mariota has completed 104-of-138 passes for 1549 yards, 17 touchdowns and one interception.
– Mariota has the majority of his rushing yards on first down, carrying the ball 50 times for 355 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s averaging 7.1 yards per carry on first down.
What Florida State is saying about Mariota:
“Marcus is tremendous, one of the best college football players ever.”
– Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher.
“I think he’s very smart with the football. I think he knows where he’s going with the ball. I think he’s very smart. I think he has great vision. I think he sees the field. I think he can – he does a good job of buying time in the pocket and that doesn’t mean just scrambling…He’s a very intelligent football player.”
– Florida State defensive coordinator Charles Kelly.
“The hardest thing about playing Marcus is trying to contain an athlete like him. He’s great, he’s got the ability to extend plays with his legs, throw passes down field and still make completions. That’s what’s dangerous about him. Not just he’s just a strong quarterback and he can run and he’s fast, but his ability to extend it and throw balls and those type of things, that’s what really makes him dangerous that’s the hard part.”
– Florida State linebacker Mario Edwards Jr.
He’s definitely the best we’ve seen but I think the closest was the quarterback for NC State (Jacoby Brissett), being able to make plays with his legs and being able to throw the ball down field. That’s probably the closest.
– Florida State safety Tyler Hunter.
Jameis Winston 
– His career record is 27-0.
– In the 2014 season, Winston is averaging 10.4 yards per passing attempt in the fourth quarter.
– In the first half of games this season, Winston has thrown 14 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. In the second half he has passed for 10 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. He’s been interception-less only twice against FBS opponents.
– His best game may’ve come in his last one against Georgia Tech. In a 37-35 win over the Yellow Jackets, Winston passed for 309 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer efficiency of 189.5 was the highest it was in a game all season.
– Across the board, a majority of Winston’s numbers were atop passing charts in 2013. He led the nation in yards per passing attempt (10.6), passer rating (184.6) and was second in passing touchdowns (40). This year though, his numbers have dropped. He’s averaging 8.43 yards per attempt and has an efficiency rating of 147.8. He’s also thrown 14 less touchdown passes.
What Oregon is saying about Winston: 
“What I see is I see a very confident guy, and he’ll make some throws. He’ll fit the ball into some tight windows. The thing that he possesses is that, if he tries to fit in a window and it doesn’t happen, if there’s an interception, it doesn’t faze him. So he’s coming right back out there, and the next series, he’ll make that play.”
– Oregon defensive Coordinator Don Pellum. 
“I just feel like he’s a playmaker, honestly. Sometimes when you’re a playmaker, you want to always make plays and don’t let the game come to you. When he forces those throws, we’ve got to take advantage of our opportunity, and we’ve got to excel on that and not let him make those type of plays.”
– Oregon cornerback Troy Hill.
“As a defensive front, we’re going to have to put pressure. When I’m watching film, that’s most of the time when he makes his mistakes. He kind of just throws it up or throws it away. So we’ve got to put pressure on him to help the DBs out to get those picks.”
– Oregon defensive lineman Deforest Buckner.
“Hard to compare him but I like to compare him to Brett Hundley from UCLA.”
– Oregon linebacker Derrick Malone.
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