Marcus Mariota Wins Heisman Trophy

Marcus Mariota won college football’s highest award in a landslide, becoming the first Oregon player to win the Heisman Trophy.

The junior quarterback received more than twice as many total points as the runner-up, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon. He was named on a record 95.16% of all ballots and received 90.92% of the total points possible, the second-highest margin in history behind Ohio State’s Troy Smith (91.63%) in 2006. (Technically, USC’s Reggie Bush received 91.77%, but his award was later taken away after he was found to have violated NCAA rules.)

The Hawaii native has re-written the school record books during his three years with the Ducks. Mariota now owns both the single-season and career records for completions, passing yards, total offense, touchdowns and points scored. This year, he led the nation in pass efficiency and was fifth in total offense (341.5 yards per game) while leading Oregon to the Pac-12 title.

But Mariota’s work is not done—No. 2 Oregon will take on last year’s Heisman winner, Jameis Winston, and No. 3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl. The winner will move on to the first college football playoff championship game.

Heisman Trophy Voting