Marcus Mariota: Focused, laid-back leader Oregon Ducks are ready ...

Marcus Mariota was throwing a fit.

Alana Mariota could hear yelling and crashing sounds in her young son's bedroom.

The problem: He was losing at a video game.

"As a kid he would throw controllers in his room," Alana Mariota said this week by phone from Honolulu. "I would tell him, 'You dent my wall and you're in big trouble.'"

On Saturday night, Mariota, who turns 19 in October, will take the controls of college football's closest thing to a video game -- Oregon's blur offense. And when he does close to 54,000 fans at Autzen Stadium will clamor to see what the redshirt freshman quarterback can do in his first start with the nation's No. 5 team.

Every man has his weakness. But for the laid-back Mariota, a lack of composure has rarely been one of them and Ducks teammates and coaches expect no problems now. They describe Mariota as a friendly soul who always wears a smile off the field and whose focused, calm demeanor has a soothing effect the team can rally around in times of adversity.

"He's a laid-back dude," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "He's the same all the time. I think it's a real admirable quality to have his consistency with his approach."

A fourth-grader's plan

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Mariota detailed the plan for his life in a fourth-grade class report.

He would play quarterback at St. Louis High School. ... Check.

He would quarterback USC or the Oregon Ducks to glory. Preferably, the Ducks, who had won the 2002 Fiesta Bowl and finished No. 2 in the nation. ... Check.

He would lead his favorite NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys, to the Super Bowl. ... Time will tell.

At the time, Alana Mariota viewed her son's goals as being cute, yet typical for a young boy who loves sports.

"As it starts happening and evolving you look back and say, 'Wow!'" she said.

Mariota's fantasies weren't fleeting. He set out to make them a reality. He honed his craft as a quarterback early, participating in camps. He grew up idolizing St. Louis High School legend Jeremiah Masoli, who went on to quarterback the Ducks to the Rose Bowl following the 2009 season.

"He's always had goals and he's really focused and he's achieving them," Alana Mariota said. "It's pretty amazing." ?

Marcus's poise on the field has existed since he played Pop Warner football.

"Kids trusted him," Alana Mariota said. "If a play fell apart he would always take care of the ball and always do something. That composure has been with him forever. I think that's something that's God given. I don't think you can teach that."

Competitive nature

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Marcus, who also grew up playing soccer through high school, gets his calm competitiveness from his father, Toa, born in Samoa, works for the federal government. His mom, originally from Alaska, works in sales, and is more vocal.

When Alana's father visits the four often play the card game, Canasta. Father and son team up against mom and grandpa. Inevitably, the friendly, family card game turns into the World Series of Canasta.

"They kick our butt all of the time," she said. "Anything (Marcus) plays he has to win and he carries that over to everything he does."

Younger brother, Matt, 14, feels the competitive wrath of his brother on a regular basis, be it in sports, video games, or anything else they compete in.

"I say, 'Can't you just let Matt win sometimes?'" Alana Mariota said. "And he says, 'No mom, he has to learn.' That's his personality."

Mariota was been an easy child to raise. Good grades. Quick wit. Never in trouble.

"He just has this mission and he continues to strive for it," she said.

He finds tranquility in the ocean and will grab his body board and head for the water on visits back to Hawaii.

"When he comes home that's the first thing he does," Alana Mariota said.

"He has a really funny sense of humor and he's really quick," she said.

Mariota's choice of music fits his personality. Several Oregon teammates point to Mariota's love of Jawaiian music, the Hawaiian style of reggae, which originated in Jamaica.

"It reminds me of home," Mariota said. "To have that kind of easy going melodies and to hear a local, familiar voice is just nice."

He's also still into video games.

"I'm a video game nerd..." he said. "Whatever gets me around the guys and whatever is a good time for me is what I like to do."

Bottom line, teammates love him.

"That kid is the pinnacle of a human being," redshirt freshman offensive tackle Tyler Johnstone said. "He's a really nice guy. Everything he does is for the good of the team, for the good of his friends."

Friendships are very, very important to Mariota, his mother said.

"He wants to take care of people," Alana Mariota said.

So much so that the quarterback competition with friend, sophomore Bryan Bennett took its toll on Mariota, mentally. Last Friday when he learned he had won the starting job, he was both excited for himself but disappointed for his friend.

"That day was hard for him because he truly felt bad," she said. "He genuinely did. It was kind of bittersweet for him. It was such a tough competition."

Focused leader

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Mariota's high school coach Darnell Arceneaux gave his quarterback an ultimatum: Yell more at teammates or run extra wind sprints.

Mariota chose the sprints and led his team to the 2010 state championship.

The last thing Kelly wants to do is change Mariota's true inner spirit. Being loud and vocal, Kelly said, is not the only way to lead.

"Just the fact that he's not outwardly demonstrative doesn't mean that he's not a leader," Kelly said. "It doesn't mean that he's not intense, doesn't mean anything like that. That's just Marcus."

Oregon sophomore center Hroniss Grasu said Mariota oozes confidence that is infectious to teammates.

"That helps us out," Grasu said.

Sophomore wide receiver Keanon Lowe said Mariota's stoic approach makes him a leader.

"He's always the same, calm cool and collected," Lowe said. "That shows out there in practice and that's going to show on the field in games. If he makes a mistake he's just going to come right back and keep playing. That's what gives me confidence playing with him."

Mariota said he simply doesn't feel the need to become angry and loud when things go badly.

"Really, for me, you can't get too mad out here," he said. "You're out here playing a game that you love to do."

Although Alana Mariota said her son's demeanor is God given, Marcus says it comes from his humbling parents who always kept him on the right path.

They also are the ones who can tell what his real mood based on his body language, regardless of what his exterior might reveal.

"My (parents) are the only one that really ever could understand my body language," he said. "I could be standing like this and they would be like, 'You look mad.' They know me just like that."

One point must be made. For all of the hype and expectations surrounding Mariota's potential, it is just that -- potential.

Mariota said the excitement level surrounding his first college game won't impact him.

"I can only control what I do on the field," he said. "Whether outside influences are going on I can't let that affect me as a person."

Alana Mariota doesn't believe the pressure will get to her son. She believes he'll handle each game like he did the spring game, rising to the challenge with stoic confidence.

"He doesn't scream and shout and jump up and down about things," she said before pausing and chuckling. "Unless he's playing video games."

?--Aaron Fentress

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2012/08/oregon_ducks_quaterback_marcus.html

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