The PAC-12 champions are looking to win their first ever National Championship led by senior Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Oregon will face Florida State in the Rose Bowl to begin the first-annual College Football Playoff at 5:00 EST on Jan. 1. Here are our top 10 reason why the Ducks will win the 2014 National Championship.
Photo source: Instagram (@uoducks)
10. Big Victories in 2014
In 2014, the Ducks defeated four top 25 teams at the time they played them along with other huge victories over PAC-12 rivals.
The Ducks defeated No. 7 Michigan State 46-27, No. 18 UCLA 42-30, No. 17 Utah 51-27 and No. 7 Arizona 51-13 (in the PAC-12 Championship Game). They also defeated Stanford 45-16 and in-state rival Oregon State 47-19.
9. Head Coach Mark Helfrich
Mark Helfrich picked right up where Chip Kelly left off leading the Ducks to a record of 23-3 in his first two seasons as head coach.
Helfrich, an offensive genius, guided the Ducks to 46.3 points per game in 2014 while finishing third in overall total offense at 546.2 yards per game.
8. DB Erick Dargan
Erick Dargan was Oregon’s leading tackler in 2014 and showed the ability to make big plays when the defense needed it.
Dargan led the PAC-12 in interceptions with six, two of them occurring in the end zone.
7. Big Play Offense
The offense could score quickly from any point on the field due to their big-strike capability.
In 2014, the Ducks had 12 plays over 50 yards, 18 plays over 40, 38 plays over 30 and 92 plays over 20. They were third in the country in plays over 10 yards with a total of 253.
6. 3rd Down Efficiency
The Ducks’ offense ranked sixth in the country in 3rd down efficiency.
The Ducks converted 51.15 percent of their third downs keeping opposing defenses on the field to continue long drives.
5. Turnover Margin
In 2014, the Ducks were ranked No. 3 in the country in turnover margin (+17).
The Ducks forced 25 turnovers while only turning the ball over 8 times on offense all season long.
4. Passing Offense
In 2014, the Ducks ranked No. 11 in passing offense throwing the ball for 308.9 yards per game.
Led by quarterback Marcus Mariota and receivers Devon Allen, Dwayne Stanford and Darren Carrington, Oregon receivers averaged 14.55 yards per reception.
3. RB Royce Freeman
Freshman running back Royce Freeman rushed for 1299 yards and scored 16 touchdowns on the ground in 2014.
Freeman was the first freshman running back at Oregon to rush for over 1000 yards giving Ducks’ fans something to look forward to in the future.
2. Scoring Offense
In 2014, Oregon scored the most points in the FBS (602) averaging 46.3 points per game.
The Ducks scored 80 touchdowns opposed to only 15 field goals proving that they optimize their scoring opportunities.
1. Marcus Mariota
Marcus Mariota had an amazing 2014 season scoring 53 touchdowns (38 passing, 14 rushing, 1 receiving).
Mariota capped off his senior season by winning the Heisman Trophy after cleaning up at the College Football Awards winning the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s best quarterback along with the Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards, both awarded to the nation’s best football player.