The most talked about play of the Ducks’ game against Wyoming was when quarterback Marcus Mariota summersault leaped into the end zone to give the Ducks a 20-7 lead. It was reason for his mom to worry also.
“My mom sent me the video over text message and said, please don’t ever do that again,” Mariota said after Monday’s practice. “I got it right when I got back to my locker.”
After the game, both Martioa and offensive coordinator Scott Frost talked about the risk involved with such an acrobatic play.
“You just have to be a football player in those situations,” Mariota said. “For me, it looked kinda bad, but going through it it wasn’t so bad….It happened so fast that I ended up flipping all the way over and I just got up.”
Frost, who was a quarterback himself at Nebraska, made some similar acrobatic plays when he was playing college ball.
“I think the best thing he did was do that in the first half, and then not take chances in the second,” Frost said. “We want him to stay healthy, obviously, but I’m not going to ever put a restraint on him and tell him not to play football.”
On the offensive line, the Ducks have recently fallen victim to injuries, which include Andre Yruretagoyena and now Jake Fisher. Tyrell Crosby made his first start at the right tackle position Saturday and Matt Pierson filled in on the line after Fisher went down, which has only heightened the emphasis put towards communication.
“I think for us, we’re just going to have to over-communicate, make sure everyone’s on the same page,” Mariota said. “With a couple new guys in, it wouldn’t hurt.”
Senior offensive line leader Hroniss Grasu said that both Pierson and Crosby are more than ready to fill in when called upon, simply because they demonstrate a commitment to get better each day.
“They prepare every single day in practice,” Grasu said. “What we do and simulate in practice makes everything that happens in games much easier. Matt, he did a great job coming in and playing left tackle for us.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne