EUGENE -- They call it an aura, and those on the Oregon football team say it with reverence, for it follows Marcus Mariota well beyond the field where so many have come to know him as perhaps college football’s best player this season.

And last week, shortly after 1 a.m., this aura, this great college quarterback, arrived on the doorstep of Ducks’ reserve tight end Koa Ka’ai.

Mariota is a boring sort, the type who is often in bed by 9 p.m., as Ka’ai discovered when they were roommates as freshmen two years ago. So it was with a mix of puzzlement and amazement when Ka’ai answered the early morning knock at his off-campus home and found Eugene’s most famous resident.

Mariota asked if his teammate was OK, and Ka’ai’s heart dropped with embarrassment. It had been a bad day for Ka’ai and as often happens among the Polynesian family within the Ducks -- there are seven players from the islands -- word spread from mother-to-player, player-to-player.

But it was Mariota, along with roommate Bronson Yim, who drove three miles across campus and to Ka’ai’s door, checking on his welfare. A heart that dropped in embarrassment -- Ka’ai had earlier turned the page on his bad day and was in bed -- soon swelled with appreciation. He assured Mariota everything was fine and after they had left, Ka’ai remembers closing the door and thinking, “Dang.”

“That’s who he is,’’ Ka’ai said. “A guy who will check on you if he thinks something is wrong. And it wasn’t just me, because we are close. It’s the whole team. He would do that for anybody.’’

So while the pundits and fans marvel at Mariota’s amazingly accurate right arm -- he has 20 touchdown passes and zero interceptions this season -- and the uncanny speed that has allowed him to race to nine touchdowns, those around the Ducks find themselves drawn more to what is underneath his No. 8 jersey.

They search for ways to explain him, but they can’t pin it down, can’t grasp it in one handful, for his aura is so complex. The scene at Ka’ai’s doorstep is but a wisp of what floats among them every day: a waft of compassion here, a billow of humbleness there, all blanketed by a conscientiousness unbecoming of a 20-year-old, let alone the favorite for the Heisman Trophy and leader of the nation’s No. 2-ranked team.

He is uneasy when he is the focus of attention, which he will be Thursday when No. 2 Oregon plays at No. 6 Stanford, and much of his time is spent deflecting praise, usually to teammates. But when he is left no out, such as revealing his motive at arriving at Ka’ai’s doorstep, he can deliver with pinpoint accuracy.

“If someone is having a bad day,” Mariota said, “I find you can change it pretty quick by just showing that you care.’’

***

He is building a legacy at Oregon, leading what many feel is the best football team in school history, all while amassing statistics and records that seemingly never end: A touchdown pass in all 21 career games, the nation’s fourth longest streak; 293 consecutive passes (and counting) without an interception, a conference record; a 20-1 record as a starter; 1,263 career rushing yards, the third-most by a quarterback in school history, and 29 total touchdowns this season.

But where he really open eyes around campus, and where he once again leaves his teammates in awe, is in the classroom.

Mariota will tell you he is not the smartest guy on the team, and he may be right, but few will debate that he is the most studious.

Steve Stolp, the executive director of UO’s Jaqua Student Athlete Academic Center, said Mariota is a fixture there, tucking himself away in a corner for privacy. If a student athlete has a grade-point-average of 3.0 or lower, they are required to spend 4-to-8 hours a week with a tutor at the Jaqua. Stolp said Mariota is above a 3.0, yet he is still at the facility.

“I see him a lot in here,’’ Stolp said. “And he is the last one to leave the building on any night.’’

In fact, teammates say they have seen Mariota plead to keep the lights on past the 11 p.m. closing time.

“I respect him immensely for the amount of work he puts in,’’ Stolp said. “I’ve seen a lot of student athletes over the years, and I have been here since 1998, but I haven’t seen any, well, I should say very few, work as hard as he does. There have been a few, but none with the pressures that he has outside of school.’’

He is a General Science major, with aspirations of becoming a physical therapist or something in sports medicine, and this football season he has an especially arduous class load: Chemistry 221 and 222, Human Anatomy 321, Human Physiology 322 and an online course, Anthropology 350.

“Tough classes and a tough major,’’ Stolp said.

The week of the UCLA game on Oct. 26, Mariota canceled an interview with a national media outlet because he wanted to spend more time studying for a chemistry midterm. And last week, amid preparation for Stanford, he had midterms in physiology and anatomy.

Staying sharp with perhaps the nation’s most complex and prolific offense is one thing, but to do it while processing the bodies’ sarcomeres, neurons and voltage gates leaves many on the team shaking their head. Holder and backup quarterback Dustin Haines is one of them. He is in the physiology and anatomy classes with Mariota and often studies with him at the Jaqua.

“To do this load, with these classes, and contend for a national title and stay undefeated? I don’t know if people realize how hard it is,’’ Haines said. “But the way he handles it is unbelievable.’’

Mariota shrugs.

“It’s pretty tough, but that’s school. We are not asking for any sympathy,’’ he said.

And just like he is after a spectacular performance in a game, Mariota refuses to take credit, and insists on including others.

“I want to do well. And the classes I’m taking ask for me to be prepared,’’ Mariota said. “I’m lucky to have Dustin Haines ... so thankful for him. We work really hard together to get our work done.’’

Those physiology midterms last week?

On the lab, he scored 85. On the written 80.

“Not bad,’’ Mariota said. “A lot of studying.’’

***

Mariota knows there is more studying ahead: After the season he will examine his options on whether to enter the NFL Draft.

“There’s a lot of reasons for me to leave,’’ Mariota said. “But there are a lot of reasons for me to stay. It’s going to be a very tough decision.’’

The NFL has been a dream since he was a kid growing up in Honolulu, and he would almost certainly be a high draft pick who would instantly be awarded millions of dollars.

“It is a lot of money, but I think for my family, and for me, it’s not about the money,’’ Mariota said. “It’s more about a dream coming true. But at the same time, you only go through college once. Getting an education, building relationships and lasting friendships for the rest of your life ... you can’t take that away.’’

Like Mariota, his teammates don’t want to look that far ahead. There is a big game Thursday at Stanford, and more history to be made.

But to them, when it comes to Mariota, it is about so much more than victories, and football. It is telling that not one of Mariota’s teammates wanted to talk about his accuracy, foot speed or zone reads in Oregon’s spread offense.

They are awed by the player who wears No. 8, but even more impressed with the man underneath the jersey.

If one teammate wasn’t saying how he chose Mariota to be the first to learn of his mother becoming ill, another was saying Mariota was the first to drive to his home and put an arm around his shoulder after the player’s father died.

“He is one of those guys you want to be around, one of those guys you look up to, one of those guys who is loving, caring,’’ receiver Josh Huff said. “He is just a special guy.’’

When he walks through campus, Mariota is invariably stopped by students, and it’s always the same scene.

“People will always come up to him, and the first thing he does is ‘Hey, how are you doing’ and shakes their hand, and makes it personal,’’ Haines said. “It’s never, ‘aww, another fan.’ He is just phenomenal.’’

It’s part of that aura, one that makes him so approachable, so likeable, even though he admits he would rather not get the attention.

“I just try to be who I am,’’ Mariota said. “I tend to get overwhelmed with the attention, but at the same time I understand it is part of this whole experience. My parents are telling me to take it one step at a time and enjoy it.

“It only comes across once.’’