The weekend ahead is a full-circle moment for Marcus Mariota. The quarterback for the Washington Commanders will return to his alma mater as a dual feature. Making a guest appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay and being inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.
Mariota, who steered the Oregon Ducks to their first Heisman Trophy in 2014 and to a College Football Playoff appearance, was among the five-member Hall of Fame class of 2025. He’ll join the College GameDay crew this Saturday as a guest picker ahead of Oregon’s game against USC, the kind of intersection of past and present that doesn’t come along very often.
For Washington, Mariota represents stability amid injuries. The Commanders have leaned on him while Jayden Daniels recovers; Mariota has completed enough work this season to show he can manage the offense. ESPN’s stat page lists Mariota with 1,065 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions this season. That production helped Washington navigate a crowded injury list and gave Dan Quinn a veteran option when needed.
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He arrives in the Willamette Valley to be celebrated not just for his NFL time, but for his transformative college tenure. He still holds key records at Oregon and is universally regarded as one of the program’s all-time greats. “He’s somebody as a quarterback that you just love watching play,” said current Ducks QB Dante Moore ahead of the induction.
On Saturday morning, Mariota will step behind the GameDay desk, make his pick, toss some light banter, and later still receive the Hall of Fame honor with players, coaches, and fans gathered at Autzen Stadium. After that, he’ll likely revert to Commanders mode, preparing for the rigors of the NFL week ahead.
Saturday’s events will celebrate what Mariota accomplished and remind everyone why his legacy at Oregon remains alive long after the final whistle.