Rose Bowl Matchup of Mariota vs. Winston Just Might Be Start of Something Big
LOS ANGELES — You'd think we'd get something like this all the time. The quarterback is the most important guy on the field, so why wouldn't the two best quarterbacks in the country face each other in a championship-type of game?
For some reason, it just doesn't happen. And when you look at the quarterbacks who have played in the national championship games from the time the BCS started in 1998, you find the side of the NFL road littered with Tim Tebow, Vince Young and Matt Leinart.
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Now, we get Marcus Mariota versus Jameis Winston on Thursday in the Rose Bowl for a spot in the national championship game. This could be exactly what we've been waiting for. The game will have the country's attention focused on quarterbacks who are polar opposites on-field and off. The past two Heisman Trophy winners. Both players are expected to go to the NFL next season, too.
I know everyone's talking about good versus evil with these guys. But football is wondering where its next Tom Brady-Aaron Rodgers rivalry is going to come from. The answer might be Pasadena.
Might be. Because if you look through the quarterbacks who played in the national championship game in recent years, you find a shocking lack of future NFL success. Cam Newton, Michael Vick, Carson Palmer. That's about as good as it gets
And it seems that every time two superstar quarterbacks come out of college in the same year, one is a bust. If that's going to happen this time with Mariota and Winston, which one will be Peyton Manning and which one Ryan Leaf?
That's impossible to know. Winston is cool in the pocket with outrageous patience and just won't go down even when people are ramming into him. NFL teams love that toughness. Mariota bulked up in the offseason to stand a little stronger, but his best stuff doesn't happen in the pocket.
Winston has the cocky-leader thing going that we stereotypically associate with quarterbacks. Mariota is quiet.
Winston's coach, Jimbo Fisher, instructs him after a game to get people on his side by being "Humble, Humble pie'' with the media. Mariota is so humble that some NFL scouts wonder if he'll take charge. Oregon assistants wondered the same thing when he arrived.
If Winston's character were reliable, I'd say he'd be picked in the draft ahead of Mariota. Not to mention, Tampa Bay gets the first NFL draft pick, and there's an added PR bonus in taking a player from the state of Florida. That might not be good for Winston, as Tampa coach Lovie Smith, a defensive specialist, has proven over the years he has no clue what to do with a quarterback
The NBA can look at the NCAA tournament and Final Four as marketing for its future stars. The NFL hasn't had as much luck with that. That's what makes this game special for the future. It's a marquee game between marquee players with everyone watching. Too bad it's not the title game.
Opposites make all rivalries better, too, because it gives you a chance to choose sides.
I'd try to connect this to the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson college national championship game, which had a lot of the same things going for it as this Rose Bowl. The difference was that the NBA wasn't particularly popular at the time, and that one college game gave it the rivalry it needed to for the league to explode in popularity.
In this case, the NFL is already the most popular sport in the country. The second most popular is college football.
Mariota is better suited to win Thursday's game. He has been better than he was last year, and far more consistent. Not game-managing consistent, but game-breaking consistent. He has 38 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.
"His efficiency...'' Winston said this week. "That's special. I think he has all the tools. He's fast, has a great arm and he leads the team. Quietly, but he leads the team. And those guys rally up behind him and he affects everyone around him.''
Winston hasn't had nearly the stats he had last season. Last year, he threw 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This year, it has been 24 and 17. But he has found a way to grind out wins. Sure, it looks prettier the way he did it last year, but it takes a certain amount of guts to win the close ones. And in two years he has never lost a game.
"He's a great player,'' Mariota said. "What he's been able to do over his career is incredible. His record as a quarterback, you know, says a lot about his game and what he's able to do. He really has that command of the offense and whenever the game is close, you can rely on that guy to make plays.''
I give the edge to Mariota over Winston on Thursday. But Florida State, with a better defense, has more ways to win. (Pick: Oregon in a close one.)
This game is what everyone has been waiting for. But a caution about using it to predict a longtime great rivalry: Tom Brady wasn't drafted until the sixth round. Aaron Rodgers was the 24th pick.
And college football championship games tend to produce quarterbacks such as Matt Flynn, Matt Leinart, Josh Heupel.
Craig Krenzel. Chris Leak. Chris Weinke.
Matt Mauck. Tee Martin. Ken Dorsey.
Might this really be the one?
Might be.
Greg Couch covers college football for Bleacher Report.
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