Hours after an electrifying win over Oregon State in the Civil War, the Ducks named quarterback Marcus Mariota and defensive tackle Taylor Hart the team’s Most Outstanding Players (Skeie’s Award) for the season. This is the second-straight Skeie’s Award for Mariota, who also received the honor for Most Inspirational Player (Wilford Gonyea Award).
The awards were announced at the team banquet held in Autzen Stadium’s Club following Saturday night’s victory. A vote by the Oregon players determined both honors.
Mariota is the first Duck to receive back-to-back team MVP honors since 2010 when running back LaMichael James earned the award. The redshirt sophomore quarterback was a Heisman Trophy front-runner for most of the year, but finished with some mediocre (for him) performances that coincided with two Oregon losses. During the regular season, Mariota threw for 3412 yards, 30 touchdowns and four interceptions (all in the final two games) while completing 63.1 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 582 yards and nine touchdowns. While he couldn’t match Akili Smith for the single-season school record in passing yards (3763), Mariota did surpass Smith in total offense for a season at 3,994 total yards.
Hart is the first defensive lineman since 2008 (defensive end Nick Reed) to share the MVP award. The senior was Oregon’s fourth-leading tackler in 2013 (64 tackles) and contributed three sacks, five pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Hart was also named to the Academic All-Conference second team earlier in the week.
Other individual awards:
– The Duane J. Cargill Memorial Award for most outstanding offensive impact player was given to sophomore running back Byron Marshall. Oregon’s coaches determined this award.
– The Dudley Clarke Memorial Award for most improved player went to junior linebacker Derrick Malone.
– Senior offensive guard Mana Greig won the Ed Moshofsky Trophy for the team’s most outstanding offensive lineman. Fellow o-linemen voted for this award.
– Freshman tight end Johnny Mundt received the Len Casanova Award for best displaying the athletic standards and inspiration of former Oregon head coach and athletic director, Len Casanova.
– Senior quarterback Dustin Haines was honored with the Elmer Sahlstrom Award, given to the senior with the best academic record, as well as an outstanding attitude and valuable contributions to the team.
– Redshirt sophomore linebacker Rodney Hardrick received the Bob Officer Award for the player who performs well through physical adversity.
– The Pancake Club Award for most knockdowns of opposing defensive linemen went to senior offensive tackle Jake Fisher. This is the second year in a row Fisher has received this honor.
– The Todd Doxey Award went to senior center Hroniss Grasu for the second-straight year. The honor is given to the player who best displays traits of spirituality, dedication and brotherhood.
– Senior offensive lineman Brian Teague and sophomore T.J. Daniel were named offensive and defensive Scout Team Players of the Year, respectively.
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