LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Marcus Mariota had a prime seat for the College Football Awards Show: second row, along an aisle, perfect view of the stage.

Too bad he barely had time to sit in it.

Mariota spent more time on stage than in his seat Thursday evening, as he collected an unprecedented hardware haul by winning the Davey O'Brien (best quarterback), Maxwell (best player) and Walter Camp (best player) awards during an ESPN broadcast from Disney World's Atlantic Dance Hall. The last player to pull of the triple was Auburn's Cam Newton in 2010.

The Walter Camp honor, announced before the show's broadcast, was a harbinger for what would come.

In the 96 prior seasons that the Oregon Ducks have fielded an intercollegiate football team, no Duck had won even one of those awards — let alone three on the same night.

"It's a blessing," Mariota said.

And it's not over yet. The only suspense surrounding Saturday's Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City is how large of a margin Mariota wins by over fellow finalists Amari Cooper of Alabama and Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin, not whether he wins the first Heisman in Ducks program history.

Even during the commercial breaks, Mariota was the center of attention in the small hall: To drum up laughs, ESPN played the now famous clip of Charlie Pape's "Jesus, Girls and Marcus Mariota" answer during a post-game Oregon press conference on a huge screen above the stage, then asked Mariota for his reaction.

He offered a polite answer, then appeared happiest when the camera was off him.

"Our whole team is better for having been around Marcus," said Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich, whose seat was directly in front of Mariota's. "Not just a dynamic guy you see making highlights but every single day in the weight room, every single day running in the summer, all the things he does behind the scenes, community, all those things are immeasurable."

Oregon's Marcus Mariota walks the red carpet amid rows of fans at ESPN's College Football Awards at Disney's Boardwalk on Thursday evening.

Oregon's other nominees were not as successful but were honored nonetheless. Louisville's Gerod Holliman won the Thorpe Award, given to the nation's best defensive back, over UO cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Alabama's Landon Collins.

Senior center Hroniss Grasu, who did not make the trip, lost out to Auburn's Reese Dismukes for the Rimington Award, given to the most outstanding center.

Mariota has passed for 3,773 yards, 38 touchdowns and two interceptions and completed 68.3 percent of his passes this season and has rushed for 669 yards and 14 touchdowns. His 53 total touchdowns — he's also caught a TD — are a single-season Pac-12 Conference record.

Mariota continues on to Baltimore on Friday, where he will formally accept the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award that he won Monday.

That night, Ekpre-Olomu will be back in Eugene 3,000 miles away taking his last final exam -- introduction to law -- but he won't go home without an accolade. Ekpre-Olomu and Mariota were each named to the Walter Camp All-American team, while Grasu earned second-team honors.

Other award winners Thursday were:

Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright for the Check Bednarik Award, for best defensive player

Alabama's Amari Cooper for the Biletnikoff Award, for best receiver

Maryland's Brad Craddock for the Lou Groza Award, for best place-kicker

Utah's Tom Hackett for the Ray Guy award, for best punter

Iowa's Brandon Scherff for the Outland Trophy, for most outstanding interior lineman

Louisville's Gerod Holliman for the Jim Thorpe Award, for best defensive back

Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon for the Doak Walker Award, for best running back

Duke's David Helton for the William Campbell Trophy, for academic, athletic and community success

Being under a microscope is nothing new for Mariota, who graced three Sports Illustrated covers before he turned 21 this fall. But for the first time, he'll now be under scrutiny in a new place: Florida State's football offices.

The Seminoles are (13-0) and seeded third in the College Football Playoff and will play second-seeded Oregon (12-1) on Jan. 1 in a national semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

"When you see the guys following him, you see the energy it creates, you see that he is a winner," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said Thursday, at a press conference for the playoff's four coaches. "When they have so many different (offensive) line combinations, all the things going on, he was still the constant that was there.

"And he creates so many things for them, I mean, as a player, not only when he's in the pocket making the throws or reading the quarterback zone or the runs they have designed for him; but managing the team, processing the team. You can tell when a guy is in total control of his offense and he definitely is that."

He doesn't only bring his teammates together, but fans, too.

Waiting behind the red carpet's velvet rope Thursday was Kyle Vuksich, a 23-year-old Boring, Ore., native who'd moved to Tampa recently. When he heard the awards were being handed out only 90 minutes from his home, he didn't think twice.

He wore Mariota's jersey. He screamed his name. And he carried a three-foot-tall photo of the Hawaiian's head.

Mariota's awards were notable for his conference, not only his school.

Not since UCLA's Troy Aikman in 1988 -- five years before Mariota was born -- had a Pac-12 quarterback won the O'Brien. He is now the sixth Pac-12 player to win the Maxwell, joining Stanford's Andrew Luck (2011), USC's Marcus Allen (1981), USC's Charles White (1979), UCLA's Gary Beban (1967) and Oregon State's Terry Baker (1962).

And on Saturday, Mariota could join Baker's select company again as a Heisman winner with Oregon ties.

Are you sitting down for this? He's a favorite to win that, too.

— Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif