Oregon vs. Utah

Handing off is a safe option for Oregon's Marcus Mariota, but nothing on offense has proven as error-free as his passing. He has zero interceptions in 285 pass attempts this season.

(Bruce Ely / The Oregonian)

EUGENE -- In his postgame comments last Saturday, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich called it "

unbelievable. ... It's inexplicable. It's

phenomenal."

Offensive coordinator Scott Frost termed it "remarkable," adding, "I

don't know if it's ever been done."

What is so difficult for some of college football's most talented offensive minds to wrap their collective heads around?

"It" is Marcus Mariota's current streak of passing attempts without an interception, which sits at a Pac-12 record 343 entering Saturday's 12:30 p.m. game at Arizona on ABC.

Team and individual interceptions from 2013 (so far) to 2011.

To visualize the season-by-season leaders for both fewest individual and team interceptions, I charted the data provided in the NCAA's official statistics. There are three graphs: One from 2013-11, another from 2010-2001 and another from 2000-1991. (Click on "View Larger" for a better grasp of the season-by-season trends.)

Of particular interest is the amount of passes attempted by each season's individual leader(s), from which it's obvious Mariota is perfect despite throwing often. Only six quarterbacks who led or tied for their season lead in interception stinginess since 1991 threw more times than the 285 Mariota has in just 10 games.

His streak dates to the first half of Oregon's 2012 loss against Stanford, meaning he's been interception-free on all 285 attempts this season. He is the only FBS quarterback also ranked in the NCAA's top 100 of passing efficiency without an interception with just two games remaining in the regular season. Oregon, as a team, leads FBS with two total interceptions -- one each by backups Jake Rodrigues and Jeff Lockie.

If Oregon can stay at two team interceptions the rest of the season, it would join the 2012 Army team (an option-oriented team) as the only teams since 1991 with just two picks.

Mariota's streak been a topic of discussion all season, but finding a comparison of his efficiency and lack of interceptions requires going back to 1991. That's when Virginia quarterback Matt Blundin became the last quarterback ranked among the nation's top 100 in passing efficiency to finish the season without an interception.

A few things stand out from seeing the data visualized: Russell Wilson came the closest, with one interception in 2008, to joining Blundin as a zero-interception standout. Second, Fresno State's Billy Volek threw the fewest interceptions in consecutive seasons from 1998-99. Lastly, Scott Frost, then at Nebraska in a rushing-dominated offense, tied for the lead in 1996 with three.

Now, a note on methodology: It is possible a quarterback threw for fewer interceptions than the listed national leader in a given season, but I limited what I counted to the NCAA's official passing stats from each season, which rank by passing efficiency. It ensures a quarterback was a significant contributor. In a few, rare seasons -- such as 1996, when BYU's Steve Sarkisian

in efficiency -- the NCAA cut off the stats at the top 50, but most count the top 100 in each category.

Though it is not

the

exhaustive list of each quarterback to throw a pass each season, it captures those who mattered most and because of that, shows just how difficult it is to accomplish what Mariota is approaching.

Here's a link to all

. Prior to 1999, data is available for both team and individuals online

, which is when I stopped my search.