Marcus Mariota would just like to say, "mahalo."

The Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers have enjoyed one of the premier rivalries in college football, but that was set aside recently as the latter gave its due to the quarterback who has been terrorizing their defense for the past three seasons.

According to ESPN, Oregon State University (OSU) took out a full-page advertisement in the Oregonian to congratulate Mariota on winning the Heisman Trophy this past weekend. Mariota is 3-0 in "Civil War" games, so the Beavers are likely crossing their fingers and hoping he chooses the NFL over his senior season.

"We have a lot of respect for Marcus," OSU assistant athletic director Steve Fenk said in a statement. "While many years apart in age, Marcus displays the same type of class that [Oregon State's 1962 Heisman Trophy winner] Terry Baker does on a daily basis."

Mariota is the first Oregon Duck to ever win the award and he did so by grabbing an overwhelming majority of the votes. He delivered an emotional acceptance speech at the ceremony in which he thanked his teammates and his coaches, lauded his competitors, and honored the Polynesian community and his parents for getting him to where he is.


Mariota has not said what his plans are for next season, but indicated he will wait until he is done playing football to talk to his family and make that decision. Second-ranked Oregon will play third-ranked Florida State for the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1.

In his speech, Mariota encouraged all Polynesian youths with dreams of athletic greatness to not give up and to set their goals high. Mariota is potentially poised to become the most prominent Polynesian football player since Troy Polamalu and has now joined Manti Te'o as a college standout.

Mahalo Marcus from OregonVideo on Vimeo.