EUGENE -- In his defense for selecting Oregon's Marcus Mariota over Florida State's Jameis Winston -- you may have heard of him, reigning Heisman Trophy winner? -- as the quarterback on his preseason All-American first team, noted college football analyst Phil Steele said it came down to projections for next season's production.



Steele believes Mariota will have a monster season (and also notes only one Heisman winner has repeated). The possibilities of what Mariota's junior season could entail are intriguing, but it got us thinking about where even an "average" season by his high standards would place him among Oregon's all-time records. And even if he remains close to the averages of his prior two seasons as starter, 2014 could serve as Mariota's record-setting cap to an already record-setting career at Oregon should he choose to leave early for the NFL.



In just three seasons, Mariota is on pace to break nearly every career passing record in school history -- and in the case of some records he already owns, he might reset them.



Eighty-two days still remain between today and the Aug. 30 season opener against South Dakota but with Steele's prediction fresh in the mind of college football fans, it seemed time to show how close Mariota is from several UO records.



PASSING YARDS

With 6,342 yards passing, Mariota already stands sixth in school history, one place ahead of Dan Fouts and one spot behind Chris Miller (6,681 yards from (1983-86). To reach the top, he'll need 2,002 yards to break Bill Musgrave's school record of 8,343 from 1987-90. As a sophomore Mariota passed for more than 3,600 yards, meaning he could pass Musgrave possibly in mid-October if he sticks to that per-game average.



TOTAL OFFENSE

In Musgrave's four seasons he compiled 8,140 yards of total offense when his negative rushing yards were taken into account. Unlike Musgrave, whose forte came from passing in the pocket, Mariota's run to this record will be aided by his feet, as well.



Mariota has 7,809 yards of total offense entering 2014, putting him 332 yards away from breaking the record. It's worth noting that Mariota accounted for 347 yards in last season's season-opening victory against Nicholls State in limited action. This career record might be clinched before the calendar even flips to September.



COMPLETIONS

Mariota's 475 completions puts him 162 away from breaking Danny O'Neil's mark of 636 from 1991-94. Based on last year's average of nearly 19 completions per game, he could break the record in late October against California in Levi's Stadium.



COMPLETION PERCENTAGE

Mariota already owns this record, so breaking it is gravy. He entered his sophomore season already holding the school mark but his completion percentage as a sophomore decreased by five percentage points. Still, his overall record now stands at 65.8 percent.



PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

If total offense is the first career record to fall in 2014, No. 2 is likely to be Darron Thomas' school-record 66 career passing touchdowns. Mariota's 63 puts him four away from being the sole record-holder.



PASSING EFFICIENCY

Mariota already owns the single-season and career records, with his 165.6 passer rating in 26 career games. Like completion percentage, Mariota is only adding to his own best here.



YARDS PER ATTEMPT

Akili Smith's records of 10.1 yards per attempt in 1998 and 9.0 yards per in his career are the UO standard, and though reaching the single-season mark could be difficult given Oregon's question marks at receiver, the career mark is in play. Mariota averages 8.8 yards per pass in his 26 career games, making Smith's record officially in jeopardy.



... AND RUSHING, TOO

Yes, Mariota could crack the school's career top-10 in rushing this season, as well. Not bad for a quarterback ... in just three seasons.



Mariota has 1,467 yards on the ground thus far, and he'll need 771 to juke past Maurice Morris (2,237) into 10th place. Unlike some passing records that appear to be shoo-ins, reaching this particular historic mark will take a personal best from Mariota, whose previous single-season rushing high was 752 as a freshman.



Though LaMichael James should rest easy his career rushing yardage mark is safe from Mariota, the quarterback can still claim a top rushing mark of distinction, however. If Mariota does make the top 10 in career rushing, it's likely he'll have the highest yards per carry average among the rushers on the list, too. His career average so far stands at 7.3 yards per rush. Jeremiah Johnson's 6.7 yards per is the highest -- so far -- among the top 10 rushers.

And with that, here are today's links:

The Pac-12 is making sure its football teams play more games earlier in the day.

It's a huge week for Oregon track at Hayward Field with the NCAA championships.

Mac Fleet is eyeing a repeat in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA meet.

Every Duck and Duck recruit who was chosen in the MLB draft is here.

From Saturday, a $10 million gift jump-starts possibility of new Oregon softball stadium.

A Duck fan writes the ESPN Pac-12 Blog about Thomas Tyner and Byron Marshall's potential.

Nice story here: UO golfer Brandon McIver has qualified for the U.S. Open even after thinking his hopes were over.

From Friday, Oregon added a JUCO player at OLB/DE out of Oakland.

Also from Friday, Mariota and eight other Ducks were part of Steele's all-Pac-12 preseason teams.

-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif