By the third quarter of Oregon’s matchup with Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship, the discourse surrounding Marcus Mariota shifted. In the weeks that led up to a game that would affirm the Ducks a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff, the majority of the discussion about Mariota ended with how deserving he was of the Heisman Trophy.
However, as Mariota razzled-and-dazzled his way to 346 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in a 51-13 win, the question shifted from how deserving he was of college football’s most coveted prize, to how much he would win by.
As Editorial Director Of SB Nation Spencer Hall put it on twitter, “The question is whether the Heisman deserves Mariota, basically.”
It was just one of the many tweets that surfaced after Mariota eluded defenders and found Darren Carrington for a 46-yard gain with just over 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The play added to the already decorated list of “Heisman moments” the 6-foot-4 219-pound quarterback has provided this season. And it seemed reason enough to begin considering just how large the margin of victory would be.
Dating back to Dec. 5 Mariota’s been crowned a Pac-12 Champion, been granted a berth in the Rose Bowl and accepted a variety of individual awards.
Those awards included the Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award, which he accepted Thursday night at the College Football Awards at Disney World’s Atlantic Dance Hall. He then received the Jonny Unitas Golden Arm Award Friday in Baltimore.
Tonight, he will join Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper at the annual Heisman Trophy Ceremony. He is the prohibitive favorite and that fact is well known.
Here’s a rundown of links on on the discussion surrounding Mariota and the Heisman Trophy:
– Could Marcus Mariota break the Heisman Record for victory margin? Sports Illustrated writes.
–Andrew Greif of the Oregonian touches on what a Heisman Trophy winner would mean for the Oregon Ducks.  
– Mariota’s Heisman case, one that both makes him similar and different to past winners.
– Fox Sports displays its final Heisman forecast, and its only question too is how large the margin of victory is.
– The New York Post writes that Mariota’s journey to New York may become a permanent move by the 2015 NFL Draft. 
– Lindsay Schnell of Sports Illustrated writes a profile on how a humble individual from Hawaii rose to fame, and how his emergence is inspiring others around his homeland.
– The Register Guard calls Mariota the best athlete to ever play football at the University of Oregon. 
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