Mariota Shines in His Ducks Debut

September 2, 2012, 7:20 pm

The big story heading into the game was how young QB Marcus Mariota would handle the pressure of being the starting QB of the reining Rose Bowl Champs.  Well it looks like Chip Kelly knew what he was doing when he named the redshirt freshman the starting QB.  Mariota went 18-22 for 200 yards and three TDs in his debut.


Mariota wasn’t the only one who impressed in his debut as the starter.  Kenjon Barner, replacing the immortal LaMichael James, ran for 66 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries – all in under two quarters of work.

The Ducks also got great contributions from a couple of youngsters.  DeAnthony Thomas ran for 64 yards and one TD on three carries and he had two more scores receiving.  In addition, true freshman Byron Marshall ran for 64 yards and a score on 25 carries, showing some brute strength on a couple of those runs.


The score may have been a lot closer than people anticipated but don’t fooled, the game was decided at halftime as the Ducks were up by 40.  24 of the Red Wolves points came after halftime against the second, third and fourth-stringers.

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