Oregon Ducks

Our countdown of the top 25 players in the 2012 season continues.

You can see our preseason top 25 here.

No. 1: Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

2012 numbers: Mariota completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 2,677 yards with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 752 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

Preseason ranking: Unranked.

Making the case for Mariota: It's pretty extraordinary that a redshirt freshman quarterback earns first-team All-Pac-12 honors. And tops this list. But Mariota had an extraordinary season. He ranked first in the Pac-12 and seventh in the nation in pass efficiency. It's reasonable to wonder how ridiculous his numbers would have been had Oregon played more close games, and therefore Mariota's A-game was needed in the fourth quarter more than three or four times. Consistency? Mariota threw a touchdown pass in every game. He threw one interception in the final seven games. He led an offense that ranked second in the nation in scoring (49.5 ppg) and was fifth in total offense (537.4 ypg). The Ducks scored 11 points per game more than any other Pac-12 team. The 6-foot-4, 196-pound Honolulu native is an extremely accurate passer who also might be the fastest quarterback in the nation -- see 86 and 77 yard runs this year. Against USC on the road, he completed 87 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He tied a school record with six TD passes against California. He rushed for 135 yards at Arizona State. In the Fiesta Bowl victory over Kansas State, he passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and earned game MVP honors as the Ducks ended up ranked No. 2 in the nation. Mariota will enter the 2013 season as one of the top-five preseason Heisman Trophy candidates. Said All-American Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown: "He's a great young player. He has a bright future." Yes he does. If current trends continue, Mariota will become the greatest player in Oregon history and be a first-round pick in the NFL draft. That's a lot. But it's the truth.

No. 2: Will Sutton, DT, Arizona State
No. 3: Marqise Lee, WR, USC
No. 4: Matt Scott, QB, Arizona
No. 5: Ka'Deem Carey, RB, Arizona
No. 6: Kenjon Barner, RB, Oregon
No. 7: Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA
No. 8: Stepfan Taylor, RB, Stanford
No. 9: Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah
No. 10: Markus Wheaton, WR, Oregon State
No. 11: Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA
No. 12: Jordan Poyer, CB, Oregon State
No. 13: Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford
No. 14: Matt Barkley, QB, USC
No. 15: Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA
No. 16: Trent Murphy, OLB, Stanford
No. 17: Chase Thomas, OLB, Stanford
No. 18: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Oregon
No. 19: David Yankey, OL, Stanford
No. 20: Dion Jordan, DE/OLB, Oregon
No. 21: Scott Crichton, DE, Oregon State
No. 22: Ed Reynolds, S, Stanford
No. 23: Michael Clay, LB, Oregon
No. 24: Taylor Kelly, QB, Arizona State
No. 25: Reggie Dunn, KR, Utah

The Pac-12 was well-represented on the Walter Camp Foundation's 2012 All-America team, released Thursday.

USC sophomore receiver Marqise Lee, Stanford senior tight end Zach Ertz and a pair of running backs, Oregon senior Kenjon Barner and Arizona sophomore Ka'Deem Carey, were named to the first-team offense.

Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and Oregon State cornerback Jordan Poyer, both seniors, earned spots on the first-team defense.

The conference got two players on the second teams, one on each side of the ball: UCLA senior running back Johnathan Franklin and Arizona State junior defensive tackle Will Sutton.

For the complete Walter Camp list, click here.

The Pac-12 -- again -- produced national title contenders but not a team playing for the crystal football when the final bell rang. Further, for the first time since 2008, the conference didn't provide a Heisman Trophy finalist.

A short summary of the regular season: It was pretty good but could have been better. But it was definitely surprising.

Better? If things had fallen the right way, seven Pac-12 teams could have been ranked in the final regular-season poll. USC began the season as a national title contender only to yield that spot to Oregon. Then Stanford ended the Ducks' hopes on Nov. 17 with a 17-14 overtime win in Autzen Stadium.

So the conference streak without a football national championship extends to eight seasons.

Surprising? UCLA won the South Division over rival USC, and Stanford beat out Oregon in the North by virtue of the aforementioned win in Eugene. Neither was tapped in the preseason as the conference champion by any of the 123 media members who voted.

Surprising? USC quarterback Matt Barkley topped just about every preseason Heisman Trophy list. He didn't even make first- or second-team All-Pac-12.

Surprising? Three of the four new coaches turned in strong seasons. Start with Jim Mora, who led the Bruins to the Pac-12 championship game and a national ranking. And, a year after USC beat UCLA 50-0, the Bruins prevailed, 38-28.

Sorry for bringing that up, USC.

Both Arizona's Rich Rodriguez and Arizona State's Todd Graham finished 7-5, though Graham handed Rodriguez his fifth defeat in the Territorial Cup.

Sorry for bringing that up, Wildcats.

The new coach who was expected to make the most noise -- with both his mouth and his team -- was only 1-for-2, and it wasn't Mike Leach's team doing the talking. His Cougars finished 3-9 and recorded just one conference victory. Of course, that lone Pac-12 win was over Washington.

Sorry for bringing that up, Huskies.

The good news is a record eight bowl teams, including a third consecutive season with two BCS bowl berths, which means an extra $6.1 million for the conference to split up.

The bad news is two more coach firings: Jeff Tedford at California after 11 seasons and Jon Embree at Colorado after just two. That means half the teams in the Pac-12 will have changed coaches over the past two years.

Further, USC's disappointing season lands Lane Kiffin on the 2013 hot seat, the only Pac-12 coach who will be stuck with that designation heading into 2013.

What about some highlights? Well, here you go.

Offensive MVP, Marqise Lee, WR, USC: Not only is he the most dominant wide receiver in the country, he might also be the most dominant player. Heisman voters say otherwise, but we in the Pac-12 know just how dominant he can be. His record-setting season should be more than enough to earn him the Biletnikoff Award for the nation's top receiver. And if he has matching numbers on a nine-win USC team, he's in New York this week.

Defensive MVP, Will Sutton, Arizona State: The numbers alone paint a pretty good picture of just how dominant the speed-rushing defensive tackle was. He led the conference in tackles for a loss per game and averaged almost a sack per game. He was a wrecking ball -- the kind of player offensive coordinators design their game plan around.

Newcomer of the year, Marcus Mariota, Oregon: In a year in which redshirt freshmen quarterbacks became all the rage, Mariota stood out with his efficiency as a passer, his athleticism as a runner and the speed with which he commanded Oregon's offense. His presence assures Oregon will continue to be one of the best offensive teams in the country in the coming years.

Biggest surprise: A school not named USC or Oregon is going to the Rose Bowl. In fact, neither team played in the Pac-12 championship game -- which many thought was as foregone conclusion before a single ball had been hiked. Stanford and UCLA were surprises -- but they also earned it.

Biggest disappointment: USC's once-promising season first got hijacked at Stanford. And from then on the Trojans were swimming in concrete shoes. After starting the season No. 1 in the AP poll, the Trojans became the first such team since 1964 to end the year out of the Top 25. The contrarian opinion Kevin Gemmell offered up back in March came to fruition. And it was a complete disaster. And, yes, even worse than Ted Miller's "Worst Case." And that's pretty bad.

Best game: Depends on where your tastes lie. If you like defense, then it was Stanford's performance at Oregon, where they held the Ducks to fewer than 200 yards rushing and won in overtime. Jordan Williamson's 37-yard kick sent shock waves throughout college football. If you like offense, you have to look to the Nov. 3 shootout between Oregon and USC. The stakes weren't as high as we all thought a few months ago, but some of the league's premier offensive players showed up as the teams combined for 113 points, 68 first downs and 1,145 yards of total offense.

 

TEMPE, Ariz. -- This was not a test of the Oregon football system. If this had been an actual test, you would have seen Arizona State still in the game after the first quarter.

Some test? After an odd flurry to start the game, No. 3 Oregon was never challenged by Arizona State in a 43-21 victory Thursday night in Sun Devil Stadium, which was less than half full to start the third quarter.

We all know that Ducks coach Chip Kelly is not much for media scripts. The Washington game is supposed to be a bitter rivalry. Kelly gave that a shrug and a "Neh," and announced how much he liked and respected Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian.

The visit to Arizona State on Thursday was supposed to challenge the Ducks. It was supposed to give us a measure of redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota in a frenzied, hostile environment.

But after a horrible start -- a fumble on the second play, a 28-yard Sun Devils touchdown pass on the third -- the Ducks simply rolled. Test Mariota? He didn't need to throw. It was 22-7 after the first quarter and 43-7 at the break.

"One thing I love about this team," Kelly said, "is we don't flinch."

Oregon rushed for 329 yards. By halftime.

Mariota didn't play in the second half, yielding to Bryan Bennett and the second unit.

Arizona State entered the game 5-1, ranked 24th in the coaches' poll. The Sun Devils topped the Pac-12 in most major defensive categories and were led by quarterback Taylor Kelly, who was No. 1 in the conference in passing efficiency. While the naysayers are sure to come out -- they lost to Missouri! -- this was, at least, a solid team.

And Oregon simply curb-stomped them.

Just as they had done to the rest of their Pac-12 schedule thus far. Average margin of victory in four games: 31.8 points. And that includes three teams that have been ranked at some point this season.

In defense of the Sun Devils, they lost their best player -- defensive tackle Will Sutton -- to a knee injury just after he forced a fumble from Mariota on the game's second play. Shortly thereafter defensive end Junior Onyeali went down with a shoulder injury.

Those were major blows to the Sun Devils' defense, without a doubt.

"Losing Will was very disruptive and we did a poor job being prepared for that as a staff," Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. "So much of what we had planned was around him and you have to have a plan B and it took us well into the game to figure out what to do there. Making no excuses, we got beat by a team tonight that's a lot better than us, but we made them look a lot better by making a lot of mistakes."

The Ducks' defense fully matched the offense. It grabbed four interceptions, two which in the first half were returned inside the Sun Devils' 10-yard line. It also relentlessly pressured Sun Devils quarterbacks, recording five sacks. The first-team defense only gave up the early touchdown on a 28-yard pass. The other Arizona State scores came in the fourth quarter on a pick-six and a late tally against backups.

The Sun Devils finished with 408 yards, but gained only 202 through the first three quarters.

Mariota had an 86-yard TD run, a beautiful 6-yard scoring toss to Bralon Addison and even caught a touchdown pass from Bennett. He completed 9 of 12 passes for 46 yards, bouncing back from the early fumble to demonstrate plenty of poise. In his first road game, in Seattle against Washington State, he threw two interceptions. This was a more polished outing.

"Up in Seattle, I tried to do too much," he said.

But the Ducks aren't going to say too much. They're not into the idea of making statements.

Asked what statement a blowout win made, safety Avery Patterson deadpanned, "That we're 7-0."

Said Mariota, "I'm happy about tonight, but it's just one game."

Oregon's next, er, Super Bowl is at back at home against Colorado on Oct. 27. Then comes the much-ballyhooed trip to USC on Nov. 3.

Whether the Ducks admit it or not, they made a statement: This team is clearly good enough to contend -- again -- for the national title. But, as Kelly and players said, there's plenty of work ahead. Starting with, yes, the woeful Buffaloes.

Said Kelly, "We're going to get everybody's best shot. We know that."

Another part of this evening's statement? Everybody else's best shot may not be enough to even get close to the Ducks.

Both Arizona State and Oregon were looking to make statements. One succeeded. Here’s how the Ducks ran away with it, 43-21, on the road:

It was over when: On the first play of the second quarter Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly was intercepted by Boseko Lokombo. It was Kelly’s first interception in 103 attempts. Three plays later, Kenjon Barner plowed ahead on a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Ducks ahead 29-7. You could certainly argue it was over before that, but this one felt like the proverbial nail in the coffin.

It was really over when: Jesse Palmer and Rece Davis started sucking down burgers in the TV booth (11:23 in the second quarter).

Game ball goes to: Oregon running back Kenjon Barner, who rushed for 143 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns -- including a 71-yard touchdown run.

The cycle: A rare statistical achievement for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, who had one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.

Stat of the game, 20: That’s how many consecutive games Oregon has scored at least 30 points.

Fun stat of the game, 195: The number of pushups between The Duck and Sparky (153 for the Duck, 42 for Sparky).

Unsung hero: Oregon linebacker Dion Jordan had two sacks and five tackles (all in the first half) to stymie Taylor, who was 10-of-18 for 93 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Unsung hero II: Snaps to ASU running back D.J. Foster for his touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was a 23-yard run on fourth-and-6 following a swing pass from Michael Eubank. He cut back across the middle of the field, broke two tackles and kept his balance for the score.

What it means for Arizona State: Nothing left to do but pick up the pieces, because this was a kick in the teeth. It didn’t help that they lost Will Sutton on the second play of the game. That was a factor -- but only on defense -- because Sutton doesn’t impact what they do on offense. The Sun Devils can’t let this game beat them twice because they’ve got UCLA next week followed by Oregon State and USC. One bad loss could turn into a tailspin if they can't bounce back.

What it means for Oregon: Business as usual for the third-ranked Ducks. Another week, another blowout win. They’ve got Colorado next week before that big showdown at USC on Nov. 3. If they didn’t turn heads in this game, they can certainly do it on Nov. 3 with a similar performance.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- If Oregon were looking to make a statement at Arizona State -- and Ducks coach Chip Kelly would never admit such a thing -- it needed only one half to do it.

The Ducks fumbled on their second play and immediately gave up a 28-yard touchdown pass. And then they went all Incredible Hulk.

It was an epic first-half beatdown in more ways that one. Not only are the Sun Devils down 36 points, they lost defensive tackle Will Sutton to an apparent knee injury. Sutton has been the best defensive player in the Pac-12 over the first half of the season.

Oregon was dominant on both sides of the ball. It outgained the Sun Devils 377 yards to 139 and nearly returned its two interceptions for touchdowns.

Ducks QB Marcus Mariota and running back Kenjon Barner both rushed for more than 130 yards in the first half. Barner had a 71-yard TD. Mariota had an 86-yard score.

Mariota also threw and caught touchdown passes.

This one is over at the break.

And it's likely there will be fewer Oregon doubters when the national polls come out Sunday.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Oregon is looking to show the nation it's a legitimate national title contender. Arizona State is looking to show it's legitimate, period.

Oregon has owned this series of late, winning the past seven meetings and 11 of the last 14 dating back to 1998. Further, the Ducks' ludicrous speed offense moves at an even more absurd pace against the Sun Devils. Against Arizona State in the Chip Kelly era, Oregon has scored all 14 of its touchdowns in two minutes or less. The Ducks are averaging 15.2 seconds of possession per play against Arizona State, their fastest pace against any FBS opponent.

The Ducks have averaged 43.8 points in their past four games in Tempe.

But that was the old Arizona State. This crew under first-year coach Todd Graham is playing efficiently and with discipline on both sides of the ball. Other that a rotten performance at Missouri, this team has been dominant, albeit against a questionable schedule.

Oregon and Arizona State rank Nos. 1 & 2 in scoring offense in the Pac-12. Arizona State is No. 1 in scoring defense and Oregon is No. 4. Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly is ranked first in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency. Oregon's Marcus Mariota is second.

The quarterbacks probably hold the key. Both teams are likely going to aim to stop the run first and force the QBs to throw. The Ducks secondary is outstanding. It has not only grabbed 10 interceptions so far, it's returned four for touchdowns. Arizona State's most obvious weakness is its secondary, which lacks depth.

Other stars could have "hello world" moments on ESPN tonight.

Sun Devils defensive tackle Will Sutton has played as well as any defensive player in the nation thus far. He could make himself an All-America candidate with a big game.

For Oregon, playmakers Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas could create some Heisman Trophy buzz with some did-you-see-that? plays. Thomas, who has been fairly quiet of late, could pose a challenge for the Sun Devils secondary. Look for Kelly to seek opportunities to get Thomas the ball in space.

And if Barner has a big game, that means the Ducks ran the ball well. When they do that, they almost never lose.

We're tracking the offensive, defensive and coach-of-the-year races in the Pac-12.

For a more thorough look at offense, re-read our Heisman Trophy update.

Offensive player of the year

1. De'Anthony Thomas, RB/WR, Oregon: Thomas scored a touchdown against Washington State but it was a relatively quiet game for him. For the season, he's rushed for 302 yards (9.7 yards per carry) with five touchdowns and caught 19 passes for 193 yards and three TDs.

2. Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA: He ranks fourth in the nation and first in the Pac-12 with 139.4 yards rushing per game. He rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries in the blowout victory over Colorado. He also caught three passes for 48 yards.

3. Kenjon Barner, RB, Oregon: Barner rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over Washington State. He averaged 9.8 yards per carry and ran for scores of 22, 10 and 80 yards. He's second in the Pac-12 in rushing with 121 yards per game and his nine rushing touchdowns leads the conference.

4. Taylor Kelly, QB, Arizona State: Kelly is first in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation in passing efficiency. The Sun Devils are second in the Pac-12 with 38.4 points per game. Kelly threw three TD passes in the win at California and now has nine for the season.

5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC: Barkley was off last week. His 12 TD passes still leads the conference, but he's fifth in the conference in passing efficiency.

Keep an eye on: UCLA QB Brett Hundley; USC WR Marqise Lee; Oregon State WR Markus Wheaton. Arizona QB Matt Scott; Stanford RB Stepfan Taylor.

Defensive player of the year

1. Will Sutton, DT, Arizona State: Won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high eight tackles (six solo), including three sacks, and forced a fumble in a 27-12 victory over California. He's second on the Sun Devils with 34 tackles, including 10 for a loss. Also has 6.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.

2. Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah: Off last week. Fourth on the Utes with 19 tackles. Also has four tackles for a loss, a sack, two pass defenses and two forced fumbles.

3. Chase Thomas, OLB, Stanford: Had a sack and four tackles against Washington. He's third on the Cardinal with 23 tackles. He also has five tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.

4. Morgan Breslin, DE, USC: Leads the conference with 2.38 tackles for a loss per game and has five sacks.

Keep an eye on: T.J. McDonald, S, USC; Travis Long, OLB, Washington State; Chris Young, LB, Arizona State; Datone Jones, DE, UCLA; Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA.

Coach of the year

1. Mike Riley, Oregon State: The Beavers, who went 3-9 last year, are now 3-0 and ranked 14th. 'Nuff said.

2. Chip Kelly, Oregon: Ducks are atop the Pac-12 and ranked No. 2. If they ended up winning a fourth consecutive Pac-12 title and earn another berth in the national title game, Kelly wins.

3. Todd Graham, Arizona State: While the Sun Devils are lacking a marquee win, they've been impressive during a 4-1 start. Of particular note is their discipline and efficiency on both sides of the ball. That wasn't what you said about the Sun Devils in the past, even during the good times.

Keep an eye on: Jim Mora, UCLA; Steve Sarkisian, Washington