Marcus Mariota accounted for 136 touchdowns in three years as the greatest Oregon quarterback of all time, 105 passing, 29 rushing and two receiving, and at the end of every one of his scoring runs he handed the ball to an official and celebrated with his teammates.
Never once did he dribble the ball down his legs before crossing the goal line. Somehow in the ensuing years it’s become cool to start a celebration early, potentially costing your team a game.
A few years ago the Ducks won a game at Utah because a Utah receiver, striding into the end zone after a big play, let the ball go at the two. In 2015 Byron Marshall barely avoided doing the same thing in the national championship game.
MM set a standard in the way he played the game
Mariota is coming back to Oregon this weekend to accept induction into the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame along with teammate Hroniss Grasu and others. He’ll be the guest picker on ESPN College Football GameDay…