NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans selected Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
One of the most decorated players in school history, the 6-foot-4, 219-pound Mariota led Oregon to more wins (36) in three seasons than any other Ducks player, establishing seven of the program's season and career passing records and eclipsing several conference marks.
Mariota became the Ducks' first Heisman Trophy winner and the first from the state of Hawaii. Oregon's second unanimous first‐team All‐American of all time, Mariota's accolades included Player of the Year by the Associated Press, the Walter Camp Football Foundation, and the Maxwell Award. He was also bestowed with the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards as the nation's top collegiate quarterback, directing the country's most efficient offense (23.5) and leading all quarterbacks nationally with a total quarterback rating of 90.9.
Former Oregon QB Marcus Mariota reacts to being drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the second pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft from Honolulu. (AP Photos)
Mariota became Oregon's career passing leader with his fourth 300‐yard passing effort of the year vs. Cal, and with his 10,125 all‐time yards surpassed Bill Musgrave's (1987‐90) 8,343 yards. He owns the conference record for most touchdowns accounted for in a single season (58), breaking Matt Barkley's (USC) mark of 41 from 2011. He also became the sixth player in FBS history to pass for over 9,000 yards (10,796) and run for over 2,000 yards (2,237) in a career.
The Hawaii native owns school records for career total offense (13,033), passing yards (10,796), completions (779), touchdown passes (105), rushing yards by an Oregon quarterback (2,237), completion percentage (.668), total TDs (136), and total points accounted for (816).
Mariota became the 14th player in conference history to eclipse the 10,000‐yard barrier in total offense, surpassing Matt Barkley's career standard in the Pac‐12 title game, and is 7th all‐time in Pac‐12 career passing yards (10,796).
He led the country in passing efficiency (181.7), quarterback rating (90.9), yards per pass attempt (10.0), and points responsible for (348), in addition to ranking second in passing TDs (42), fifth in total offense (348.3), fifth in completion percentage (68.3%), seventh in passing yards per completion (14.65), and third in passing yards (4,454).
**
One day after being selected by the Titans, top draft pick Marcus Mariota arrives at Saint Thomas Sports Park. (Donn Jones Photography.com)
A Breakdown of Mariota's 2014 Season**
Mariota finished the season ranked third among FBS quarterbacks with 4,454 passing yards. He completed 24 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns, including a 70-yard TD toss, in the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship game versus Ohio State, and recorded a season‐high 26 completions for 338 yards, scoring two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground, in the College Football Playoff Semifinal Rose Bowl Game victory over Florida State.
Mariota accounted for a minimum of three touchdowns in 13-of-15 games and four scores 10 times, throwing for four touchdowns and running for two others in the regular‐season finale at Oregon State before tossing a pair of scores and running for a collegiate‐best three TDs in the Pac‐12 Championship Game against Arizona.
Mariota opened the season with a trio of touchdown tosses and a fourth on the ground in the opener vs. South Dakota before duplicating the feats at Utah and against Colorado. He also ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more against Wyoming, UCLA, and Stanford.
Titans top draft pick - Oregon QB Marcus Mariota - is introduced to reporters at Saint Thomas Sports Park (Photos: Donn Jones, AP).
He had a season‐best five scoring TDs at Washington State, while completing 21-of-25 passes for 329 yards, and added five TD tosses at California. Included were 14 completions in 15 second‐half attempts in Pullman, Wash. He finished his day in his second Arizona meeting by completing his final 11 attempts before exiting the contest following three plays into the fourth quarter. He also finished with a trio of touchdown passes in the win over Michigan State.
Mariota combined to complete 40‐of-48 passes in a two‐game span against the Cougars and Wyoming (.833), with his 84 percent completion rate in Pullman marking his fourth career showing better than 80 percent and trailing only his 87 percent (20‐23) at USC in 2012. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 318 yards against the Spartans to earn Walter Camp National FBS and Pac‐12 Conference offensive player‐of‐the‐week accolades. He also claimed conference POW honors in consecutive weeks following winning performances against the Golden Bears and Cardinal.
Mariota threw for a season‐high 367 yards (19‐of-25) vs. Arizona in Santa Clara, while eclipsing 300 passing yards in his final three appearances. He extended his string of games throwing at least one touchdown pass to all 41 games in which he played.
He averaged 10.7‐yard average (75 yds.) on the ground vs. UCLA, while averaging 14.2 yards per carry (71 yards) against Wyoming. Mariota eclipsed the century mark in rushing for the first time his junior year with 114 yards in Salt Lake City, the fifth 100‐yard rushing effort of his career. He caught his second pass of his collegiate career ‐ both resulting in touchdowns ‐ with a 26‐yard scoring catch vs. Arizona. He ran his string of pass attempts without an interception to 253 before succumbing to his first errant throw of the year vs. the Golden Bears, with the Pac‐12 record‐holder (353, 2012‐13) the only player in league history to put together multiple interception‐free sreaks of 200 attempts or more.
**
Mariota's 2013 Season**
Mariota completed 245-of-386 passes (65.8 percent) for 3,665 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2013, leading the league in passing efficiency (167.7), passing yards per completion (14.96 avg.) and total points responsible for (240), while ranking seventh in the country in the former two categories and tied for ninth in the latter. Nationally, he also rated ninth in total offense (336.9), 12th in touchdown passes (31), as well as 14th in passing yards per game (281.9).
Mariota's 2012 Season
In 2012, Mariota was an honorable mention All‐American and Pac‐12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, becoming the league's first freshman quarterback to earn first‐team all‐league honors in 23 years.
He started all 13 games and had at least one passing touchdown in each, setting a conference freshman record for most TD passes in one season (32). He fell one scoring toss shy of equaling the school's single‐season pinnacle, yet accounted for 228 points (192 passing, 30 rushing, 6 receiving) to surpass previous Oregon best (216) and rank 14th nationally (17.54).
Titans Online looks at the collegiate career of Heisman Trophy-winning QB Marcus Mariota. (AP Photos)
The Pac‐12 leader finished seventh in the country in passing efficiency (163.23). He led the league in completion percentage (68.45), falling just short of the NCAA freshman record of 69.5 percent (Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, 2007) and finished second on Oregon's single‐season total offensive yards list (3,429) and ninth in passing yards (2,677).
The Ducks' second‐leading rusher (752) also ran for more yards in one year than any other quarterback in school history, including a single‐game best 135 yards at Arizona State, 96 yards at USC, 89 yards against Stanford and 85 yards at Oregon State.
Mariota completed requirements for his undergraduate degree in general science at the end of the Fall term (in less than four years) with a GPA of 3.22.
A four‐star recruit according to 247Sports.com, Mariota garnered three stars from both Rivals.com and Scout.com and was rated the No. 6 recruiting prospect in the state of Hawaii and No. 12 overall quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com.
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota makes a pre-draft visit with Titans officials Thursday at Saint Thomas Sports Park. (Photos: Gary Glenn)
Oregon's Marcus Mariota throws during drills for NFL scouts during his Pro Day at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photos)
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota addresses reporters on Day 2 of the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine. (Photos: AP, Gary Glenn)
