All Facts and photos from www.goducks.com. Born Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Parents: Toa Mariota and Alana Deppe-Mariota. Mariota is the freshman starting quarterback for the Oregon ducks. Before coming to Oregon Mariota was a four star recruit. His senior year in high school he throw for 2597 yards and was 165 of 255 which is a 64.7 percent completion percent. He also had 32 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Mariota won the state title his senior year of high school. He won the offensive player of the year and clocked a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash. In 2011 Mariota was the third string quarterback and traveled with the team but did not play in any games. 2012 has been a break out year for Mariota. He first started this year with a battle with now back up Bryan Bennet. So far this season he has had quite the year for a freshman. He has 2511 yard throwing the ball and 30 touchdowns, with only 6 interceptions. Mariota best game this season was against CAL in which he had 377 yards throwing the ball and 6 touchdowns with no interceptions. Mariota has been the hype around college football this year because of his poise and willingness to do anything for the team. he has been a stand out player this year for the ducks. Mariota holds a 69.9 percent completion rate and a quarterback rating of 165.4 which is very good for a freshman. This year Mariota has rushed for 474 yards and three touchdowns and has an average of nearly 60 yards a game rushing. He will have one final game to show his stuff against Kansas State in the Fiesta bowl in January. Two high power offensives pin against each other.