Heisman Trophy Winner 2014: Marcus Mariota Is Deserving of Sport's Top Award

In many ways, the University of Oregon Ducks' Marcus Mariota was like a preseason No. 1 team in the old BCS system. He began the year as one of—if not the— favorites to win the Heisman Trophy award.

Like a preseason No. 1 that goes undefeated and never relinquishes the top ranking, Mariota coasted to the Heisman Trophy without ever faltering through the 2014 campaign. On Saturday, it became official. The star junior quarterback from Oregon became the school's first Heisman Trophy winner.

Stephen Nelson of Bleacher Report had the official voting results.

Per ESPN College GameDay, here's how Mariota's dominance in the voting compares to other runaway winners.

The Ducks lost to the Arizona Wildcats on Oct. 2. But even in that game, Mariota made a solid account of himself. Against the Wildcats, Mariota completed 20 of 32 passes for 276 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the rematch in the Pac-12 Championship Game, Mariota was even better. He threw for 313 yards and two more scores in Oregon's 51-13 romp.

All year long, Mariota was the picture of consistency and excellence. He threw just two interceptions during the season, while throwing for 3,783 yards and a whopping 38 touchdown passes.

As impressive as his individual numbers and the Ducks' 12-1 record are, what seems to make Mariota all the more worthy of the Heisman are his intangibles.

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a negative word to say about his leadership qualities. In fact, here's a glimpse of the way Twitter reacted after Mariota was named the winner.

The Ducks' star is always humble, and he gave his teammates and coaches much of the credit for his success. 

Both the Wisconsin Badgers' Melvin Gordon and Alabama Crimson Tide's Amari Cooper have similar qualities, but Mariota's responsibilities as a quarterback likely gave him the nod over the other two finalists.

Whether the Ducks lose to the Florida State Seminoles or go on to win the national championship, Mariota's next individual distinction could be as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

As it stands, the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans are all just 2-11. The Titans, Bucs and Jets would likely take Mariota in a heartbeat if they land the top pick. The Raiders and Jags just drafted quarterbacks last season, so they may be more apt to trade down to a team that covets the Heisman winner.

In any case, 2014 has been great for the 21-year-old from Honolulu, but 2015 could be even better.