Marcus Mariota habit ought to be the new standard of cool

Marcus Mariota accounted for 136 touchdowns in three years as the greatest Oregon quarterback of all time, 105 passing, 29 rushing and two receiving, and at the end of every one of his scoring runs he handed the ball to an official and celebrated with his teammates.

Never once did he dribble the ball down his legs before crossing the goal line. Somehow in the ensuing years it's become cool to start a celebration early, potentially costing your team a game.

A few years ago the Ducks won a game at Utah because a Utah receiver, striding into the end zone after a big play, let the ball go at the two. In 2015 Byron Marshall barely avoided doing the same thing in the national championship game.

MM set a standard in the way he played the game

Mariota is coming back to Oregon this weekend to accept induction into the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame along with teammate Hroniss Grasu and others. He'll be the guest picker on ESPN College Football GameDay.

Long after the award ceremony fans will remember the Flyin' Hawaiian for his grace, humility and the way he played the game.

Careless ball handling and a near-miss juggling act nearly cost the Ducks a touchdown against Minnesota last Friday. It stood up on review, just barely. The amazing thing is, last season the same player avoided the same error in a game against Boise State that could have upended the season. Only an alert pickup by Jayden Limar saved the touchdown in a game where the Ducks needed a fourth-quarter comeback to win by a field goal.

It's the simplest thing, an expression of class, good manners, discipline and playing the game the right way. Cross the goal line, hand the ball to the official, and celebrate with your teammates. Why can that be the cool thing, the standard for the way a Heisman winner and a Hall of Famer plays the game.

Marcus Mariota was a gift to Oregon fans, and a credit to football, it's a shame his way of playing the game doesn't have more clout in this Instagram/Tik Tok world.

The Ducks are a 10.5-point favorite Saturday against USC at Autzen Stadium, 12:30 p.m. PT on CBS. Justin Herbert, Mariota and maybe Bo Nix will be on hand for perhaps the biggest recruiting weekend in Oregon history and a program-defining showdown with the Trojans. Though he's had his struggles as a pro, Mariota was 36-5 as the Ducks' starting quarterback, the best mark ever at UO.

It'd be the most fitting tribute to the way he played if tomorrow the Oregon players who scored touchdowns would celebrate them the way he did, handing the ball to the official and turning to their teammates.