The Autzen Stadium Duck Store moved an assortment of ambiguous No. 8 Oregon football jerseys off its racks after last season. In its place: No. 8 Marcus Mariota baby blue Tennessee Titans jerseys.
Switching jerseys on the racks was an expected, simple change. A 4-3 record heading into the bye week was an unexpected result.
It’s been a struggle for Oregon to find consistency from a position that Mariota owned for the past three seasons. Oregon, with starter Vernon Adams Jr. — who missed three games this season with a broken index finger on his throwing hand — and backups Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie, has averaged 218.9 yards passing per game. Mariota averaged 312.5 yards passing yards per game last season.
In the four games he’s played, Adams is averaging 218.9 passing yards per game, completing 59.4 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and two interceptions.
These struggles should not come as a surprise. In fact, recent history suggests Oregon fans should have seen a season like this coming.
Earlier this month, Fox Sports reporter Bruce Feldman took a look at the last five Heisman-winning quarterbacks and how their respective teams did the next year without them. Each team finished with an overall record of 8-5. Only one of the teams — the 2009 Oklahoma Sooners, with former Heisman winner Sam Bradford out for the season after a shoulder injury in week one — finished with a winning conference record.
The Sunday after Oregon’s 45-38 double-overtime loss to Washington State, Register-Guard reporter Ryan Thorburn asked Ducks coach Mark Helfrich about Feldman’s finding.
“I’m never going to think of anything other than what we control, what we can control and what’s next,” Helfrich said. “Whether that’s the next person in at a position or whatever. We expect whoever is in there to be great, to play great and to prepare great. At no point do we ever go, ‘We don’t have A, B or C, so it’s OK,’ that just doesn’t happen.”
Expecting greatness out of every player on the field is a novel idea. But expecting a quarterback to play as well as Mariota did the last three seasons is an ambitious goal.
Now, after a 4-3 start, the expectations for Oregon have hit a reality check. ESPN, in its weekly series “The Eliminator,” removed Oregon from possible playoff consideration just over a week ago. On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated projected Oregon to play against Virginia Tech in the Sun Bowl.
With the Titans jerseys hanging in the Duck Store, there shouldn’t have been expectations for an easy transition into life after Mariota. His career at Oregon isn’t one that could be so easily duplicated, as we’re all witnessing now.
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt.