Like every time it started with a crowded walk, over the river and through the woods. This was different than any other that I had experienced in my time in Eugene, because it was the last home game for Marcus Mariota. A lot of things have come and gone in my almost 3 years in Eugene, the most constant thing has been Marcus Mariota, but it wasn’t something that I saw coming.

A few weeks after the 2012 Rose Bowl I came up to Eugene to pick up a van for my grandparents and check out Churchill Estates for a possible job.  I drove up the van they were trading in, left Scottsdale late Saturday night January 12th. I arrived Sunday night, all the talk the way up on ESPN radio was about Chip Kelly going to the NFL. So it was a huge surprise when the next day Darron Thomas announced he was going pro.

I didn’t live in Eugene during the Thomas years, only watched them from Washington and Arizona, but I don’t think he will ever get the respect he deserves for his time at Oregon. Thomas started for two seasons replacing Jeremiah Masoli, he was 24-3 helping Oregon reach the 2011 BCS National Championship game and winning the 2012 Rose Bowl game. Bryan Bennett was the backup QB and while talented he hadn’t shown he was ready to be the starter.

With no clear starter waiting to take over, the uproar in Eugene was nationally loud in the days following his announcement. No one understood why he would leave. My first thought was he didn’t want to play for anyone except Chip Kelly. He was the starting QB for a very prolific offense, which returned major offensive talent in Kenjon Barner, De’Anthony Thomas and Josh Huff, Colt Lyerla and was adding freshman Bralon Addison.

Chip Kelly spurned the NFL and returned to Oregon, Thomas did not. I moved to Eugene the beginning of February, everyday it seemed on local sports radio the topic was who would start when the Ducks opened the season in August. Would it be Bennett or the redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota. No one seemed to know much about Mariota, except he was from Hawaii, most struggled to pronounce his last name correctly. Mariota was on the practice squad the 2011-2012 season, so no one outside of the program knew what he could even offer, until the Spring Game on April 28th. That day Mariota announced to everyone that he was in the conversation for starting QB. While he played efficiently and looked great in the passing game, it was his 81-yard touchdown run that garnered most of the attention. It wasn’t that he did it, it was how fast he did it.  Surrounded by Oregon’s track level weapons he looked just as quick. The next couple of months rendered no help in who would start for the Ducks. Chip was Chip and didn’t talk about it; most of the news was about Bennett as he attended the Manning Passing camp was many thought he was impressive.

A few days before the season started Kelly announced that Mariota would start, it was met with the backing of LaMichael James who tweeted that Mariota was the real deal and might be the best QB Oregon would ever had. On the other side the public still were apprehensive, as Mariota didn’t have “the experience” that Bennett did.  It set the scene for the opening game of the 2012 season as Oregon took on Arkansas, in a half of work Mariota threw for 200 yards, and 3 tds.

From there on it seemed like the fears of him starting vanished, and ever since Mariota has done nothing but amaze with his ability to make big plays with both his arm and his legs. He hit a few bumps in his career here, losing to Stanford at home in 2012, losing to Stanford and Arizona while he was less than 100% in 2013, and the loss earlier this year to Arizona at home. Mariota, even with the limited time for most early season games the last has put up amazing numbers. Up to this date he has thrown for 95 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions while adding 24 rushing touchdown and 2 receiving touchdowns. 

Back to Saturday Mariota in his last game played exactly like he played just about every game he has played at Autzen, in complete control. He completed 75% of his passes threw three tds, no picks and had a rushing td on which he looked like he was shot out of a cannon. On the first drive of the 4th quarter the Ducks ran one last play for Mariota, then Mariota walked off the field looking around and patting his heart before hugging backup Jeff Lockie and walking off the field for the last time as a player.

I consider myself lucky to have been in Eugene over the last couple of years to witness first hand the best QB in Oregon Football history. Maybe he brings a Heisman to Eugene in the next couple weeks, maybe we get into the first ever college football playoff, it won’t matter one bit, he is the G.O.A.T. What he will leave is many memories, of pinpoint accurate passes, an innate ability to escape the pressure, and his effortless track speed in which he just out ran defenders which had the right line. He was Houdini on the football field, a great football player who was only overshadowed by what a great person he is off the field. He is the standard for college athletes in my mind, and many others in Eugene. I’m not sure what the future will hold without him, but we’ve been spoiled and I couldn’t be more thankful for Marcus Mariota!