Marcus Mariota's Leadership Sets Tone for Oregon, Makes Him Heisman Favorite

Marcus Mariota may have only played a little more than two quarters against Wyoming, but boy did he make them count. 

Mariota led a sleepy Ducks team to a 48-14 rout of the Cowboys, overcoming a seven-point first-quarter deficit.

The Ducks (3-0) were flat in the first quarter, which is perhaps an understatement, and were shut out over the first 15 minutes by Wyoming after getting only one possession and being stopped on the 2-yard line on fourth down.

The Cowboys then drove 98 yards on 11 plays, and the Ducks found themselves trailing and without a score in the first quarter. What should have been a cakewalk victory turned into a bit of a scare for Ducks fans. The last four times Oregon has gone scoreless in the first quarter, it's lost the game. 

Marcus Mariota would have none of that.

Mariota immediately led a touchdown drive in just over a minute to tie up the game early in the second quarter. He capped it off with a beautiful 15-yard touchdown run. 

It was just the beginning for the Heisman favorite, who ended the day going 19-of-23 through the air for 221 yards and two touchdowns. But it was Mariota’s legs that stole the show. Mariota finished the day with five carries for 71 yards and two touchdowns.

After a 30-yard touchdown run from Byron Marshall that gave the Ducks a 13-7 lead, Mariota once again led the Ducks down the field and provided a Heisman-worthy highlight. Mariota, after dancing around in the pocket for what seemed like an eternity, took off down the far sideline toward the end zone. At the goal line he was met by a group of Ducks and Cowboys. Instead of running through the pile, Mariota decided the air was a more appropriate route. 

Air Jordan? Nope, “Air Mariota.”

That 19-yard touchdown put the Ducks up 20-7 and proved to be the winning score. Add it to the highlight reel, send it to the Heisman voters, and take the vote now.

Mariota would go on to throw two touchdowns later in the game, one to freshman Devon Allen, his third in the last two weeks, and another on his last throw of the game, a five-yard connection with former Ducks basketball player Johnathan Loyd.

There’s no denying that the Ducks came out sluggish against Wyoming. "We were a little sluggish in the beginning in every phase”, said head coach Mark Helfrich, according to Jay Allen of Fox Sports Radio 620. Helfrich must be thanking his lucky stars that he has a player like Mariota to lead the team when it's not playing to its potential. 

While the rest of the Ducks were trying to find a cup of coffee to wake up in the first quarter, Mariota was too busy running around and making plays to be concerned with the 11 a.m. start time. His focus was on winning. The rest of the Ducks soon followed.

Mariota sets the tone for the Ducks. He’s the unquestioned leader of the locker room and has no problem going at it alone when his teammates aren't doing their jobs. Mariota showed as much during the second half against Michigan State. He proved again Saturday that the Ducks will follow his lead, and they’ll go as far as he can take them.

The road got a little bit more difficult Saturday, as Oregon’s offensive line took another hit. Starting left tackle Jake Fisher went down in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury.

It’s a good thing that Mariota is Houdini-like in the pocket. He’s going to need to utilize that skill set for the rest of the season.

This is the second straight week that the Ducks have lost a starting tackle. Against Michigan State, the Ducks lost starting right tackle Andre Yruretagoyena to a knee injury, and he is likely out for the season. They will now be starting redshirt junior Matt Pierson at left tackle and true freshman Tyrell Crosby at right tackle for the foreseeable future.

Oregon is going to need the young offensive linemen to step up in the wake of all of the injuries. “We expect those players to come in and play better. If they're in there, they're the No. 1 guy,” said Helfrich, according to Hayden Kim of the Daily Emerald.

The Ducks have a ton of room for improvement. They started slow, played soft defensively for parts of the first half and didn’t put on the show most pundits expected them to. As Helfrich said, via Kim, "Got a ton of work to do. Lucky that's in the wake of a victory."

The Ducks lucked into a victory Saturday based on the quality of their opponent. If Oregon plays a first quarter like it did Saturday against a team like UCLA or Stanford, it may not survive.

Thankfully for the Ducks, they have Mariota, a true leader and the Heisman favorite. 

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow him on twitter @TheSportsGuy33.