Marcus Mariota’s first game in an Oregon uniform was on September 3, 2011, albeit his redshirt year, in a loss to LSU and it will end in a loss to Ohio State in the National Championship on the same field. Mariota officially declared for the 2015 NFL Draft on Wednesday and will leave Oregon as one of the best quarterbacks in college football history.

Oregon’s loss makes their record against Ohio State 0-9 and their second loss in the National Championship, a game they have yet to win. Chip Kelly took the Ducks to the National Championship in his second year as head coach in 2011 and now Mark Helfrich has done the same in his second year.

Unfortunately, both ended the same way.

Oregon was outplayed, outmuscled, and outcoached by the Buckeyes who won despite committing four turnovers. However turnovers are worthless unless converted into touchdowns, something Oregon struggled with. Oregon only managed 10 points off of turnovers compared to 34 points against Florida State.

Mariota’s last play as a Duck ended the way only 14 plays have in his three seasons: in an interception.

All of the injuries, penalties, and defensive problems seemed to catch up to Oregon in nightmarish fashion as the Ducks put up their lowest point total of the season. It could have been lower had Marshall let go of the football a millisecond sooner before running into the endzone. From now on, all Oregon players should hand the ball to the referee after scoring. Period.

Looking over the carnage after the game as a Duck fan is a traumatic endeavor, but I cannot help but be downright impressed by Urban Meyer and Ohio State. When three of the top teams in the Big Ten lost in Week 2, sports writers and journalists everywhere wrote off the Big Ten saying it would be certainly left out of the playoff.

But after Week 2, the Buckeyes just wouldn’t die. They went on to beat Michigan State and Michigan with their second string quarterback, J.T. Barrett, and Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon with their third string quarterback, Cardale Jones.

When the clock struck zero in the National Championship, the mouths of the nation dropped to the floor.

Oregon got thumped with old school muscle, brawn, and a phenomenal running game.

This game reaffirmed the belief that defense wins championships in resounding fashion. Ohio State finished with 296 rushing yards against a defense that was powerless to stop them. Watching the game brought up painful memories of Auburn, LSU, and Stanford with this game arguably being the worst of the losses.

There are, however, a couple silver linings to this final game. First, the SEC was absent from the title game for the first time since 2005. The conference, widely regarded as the best in college football, took a nosedive this bowl season as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama all lost their bowl games. As a Duck and Pac-12 fan, I can rejoice at that.

Second, the playoff works and should be expanded. If this game didn’t prove the need for expansion, I don’t know what will. Ohio State was the team that stuck their foot in the door to the playoff at the last minute. They were the team that everyone doubted, the one nobody thought should be there over TCU/Baylor. They were underdogs against Alabama and Oregon and won both. The playoff must grow and this game proved what truly little we know about college football until the games are played.

Will Ohio State and Urban Meyer ever be underdogs again?

I doubt it. They’ve proved the critics wrong this whole season

Now, after watching them demolish Alabama and Oregon in the playoffs, who would dare to bet against Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes?

Photo Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/elevenwarriors/16267970051

Copyright: Jeremy Birmingham

Photo used with permission