Oregon Football: What the Ducks Should Be Thankful for in 2014

First off, let me be the first to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful time of year, especially for sports fans. If you happen to be a fan of the second-ranked Oregon Ducks, it’s an even better time of year.

With only two more games standing between Oregon (10-1, 7-1) and a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff, the Ducks are well positioned to make a run at a national championship.

According to Bleacher Report’s Ed Feng, the Ducks have a 76 percent chance of advancing to the Playoff—the best odds of any team in the country. Moreover, Feng currently has the Ducks projected as the No. 1 seed in the Playoff.

While the Ducks are sitting pretty right now, the next two games will be extremely challenging. Oregon has the weight of the world on its shoulders, and everyone expects them to glide into the Playoff. It won’t be that easy.

Regardless of their record, the Beavers also come to play in the Civil War and will give the Ducks their best shot. If the Ducks are able to take out Oregon State, and they should, they’ll be rewarded with a shot at the Pac-12 title against UCLA, Arizona or Arizona State, all of which are ranked in the top 13 of the College Football Playoff rankings.

With the burden of high expectations placed squarely upon their shoulders, what do the Ducks have to be thankful for in 2014? Well, how about we start with Oregon’s Heisman Trophy candidate: Marcus Mariota.

Ryan Kang/Associated Press

Marcus Mariota

Redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Mariota is the greatest football player in the history of the University of Oregon. That is not an opinion. It is, at this point, a fact.

Yes, Oregon’s football program has produced six College Football Hall of Famers and six NFL Hall of Famers. However, no Oregon player has ever finished higher than third in the Heisman Trophy voting.

That will change this year, as Mariota is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, according to Odds Shark (via Bovada). Currently, Mariota is a 1-3 favorite to win the award and one of two players to have better than 2-1 odds to win the prestigious award—the other being Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon.

ESPN’s latest Heisman Watch has Marcus Mariota winning seven of the 10 first-place votes. The other three are for Gordon.

Mariota has broken numerous Oregon, Pac-12 and national records during his three years as the Ducks quarterback. If his career ended today, Mariota would have the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the history of college football. By the way, it’s not particularly close.

Mariota has a chance to lead the Ducks to what I will refer to as the college football trifecta. With two more wins, Mariota can lead Oregon to a Pac-12 championship and secure the first Heisman Trophy in school history. With four more wins, the Ducks can win their first national championship in school history.

Without Marcus Mariota, there’s no way the Ducks are in contention for a national championship or a Pac-12 title this season. Quite simply, Mariota is having the best single season in school history and one of the best seasons in Pac-12 history.

It seems as though there are only three things that matter in or around Eugene right now. They are “Jesus, girls and Marcus Mariota.”

Royce Freeman

Marcus Mariota’s play this season is the reason why the Ducks are in a position to compete for a national championship. However, without the impact of true freshman running back Royce Freeman, the Ducks wouldn’t be nearly as feared as they are.

Freeman has done much more than simply become Oregon’s featured back. He’s run his way into Oregon lore. The true freshman has already set the freshman record for touchdowns in a season (16) and became the first true freshman in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

On the season, Freeman has rushed for 1,050 yards and 16 touchdowns on 187 carries. Freeman ranks No. 35 in the nation in rushing and No. 10 in rushing touchdowns.

More importantly, Freeman has brought a bruising style to the backfield, something the Ducks have severely lacked in years past. Ducks running backs have traditionally excelled running around the edges. However, they’ve struggled running in between the tackles. Not this year.

Freeman is a fearless back who isn’t afraid of contact. That style of running will benefit the Ducks later this season.

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Mark Helfrich

No one could possibly duplicate the success former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly during his four-year tenure in Eugene. From 2009 to 2012, Kelly led the Ducks to a 46-7 record, four consecutive BCS appearances, three consecutive Pac-12 titles and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. Kelly’s has the highest winning percentage (86.8) of any Pac-12 coach in history with at least 50 games coached. 

Replacing Kelly was going to be an enormous challenge for anyone, let alone a coach with no prior head-coaching experience. That being said, current Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich has proved to be a fantastic head coach. Through 24 games, Helfrich owns a 21-3 record and has once again put the Ducks in national title contention. In fact, Helfrich’s winning percentage of 87.5 is higher than Kelly’s.

While there were early concerns about Helfrich’s ability to guide the Ducks to the promised land after last year’s losses to Stanford and Arizona, the 41-year-old Oregonian has shown that he’s the right man to lead Oregon.

In Chip Kelly’s second year, he led the Ducks to a BCS National Championship Game appearance. In his second year, Mark Helfrich has the opportunity to one-up his former boss. If Helfrich were able to finally guide the Ducks to a title, Oregon fans would be eternally thankful.

Nike

Let’s be honest here. If it weren’t for the support of Nike founder Phil Knight and the support of his company, the Oregon Ducks would not be the powerhouse football school that it has become.

Plus, due to the relationship between Oregon and Nike, the Ducks are always the best-looking team on the field. That is something to be thankful for.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

A Chance at Redemption

When the Ducks lost to Auburn in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, there were concerns that Oregon had reached its pinnacle and that the Ducks had squandered their lone chance at a title. Those concerns remain intact to this day. 

Yes, the Ducks won the Rose Bowl in 2011 and the Fiesta Bowl in 2012. Yes, Oregon has been a top-five program for most of the past six years. In fact, since 2009, Oregon’s 67-10 record is second-best in the nation, trailing only Alabama’s 70-8 record. However, Alabama has won three national titles in that span. The Ducks have, well, you know.

It’s not like the Ducks haven’t been close: They have. In 2010, they lost on a last-second field goal in the championship after a “missed” tackle (do not watch if you’re queasy). In 2012, Oregon had a golden shot at another national championship appearance before losing to Stanford 17-14 in overtime. In 2013, another loss, this time at Stanford, derailed their championship aspirations.

Now, for the fourth time in five years, the Ducks are in national championship contention. The difference between this year and years past is the play of Marcus Mariota.

Oregon has never had a player compete at such a high level. Yes, Mariota has been spectacular in each of his three seasons as Oregon’s quarterback. However, this has been his finest year. 2014 has been Marcus Mariota’s magnum opus.

The Ducks have a chance to redeem themselves and finally win the title they’ve let slip through their fingers. For that, the Ducks should be thankful. You never know when your title window has closed until it has past.

One thing we know is this: Oregon’s title window isn’t closed. Oregon should be thankful for that, but also cognizant of the fact that the window could vanish at any moment.

Oregon’s time is now.

Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise stated. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.

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