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Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota tries to hurdle a Tennessee tackler during Oregon's 59-14 win Sept. 14, 2013, in Eugene, Oregon. (Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)

The chant started during the second quarter Saturday in Autzen Stadium in Eugene Ore. Considering the source, it was a Duck call in reverse.

One SEC sparring partner already was down for the count before halftime, and Oregon fans, tired of toying with Tennessee, were ready to take on the heavyweight champ.

“We want Bama!” they roared. “We want Bama!”

Careful what you wish for would be the appropriate response, and besides, shouldn’t they worry about getting past Stanford first?

Not to mention Washington and UCLA.

But the bravado of Oregon fans makes perfect sense. If their team meets Alabama, it’ll be in the final BCS Championship Game. If that meeting takes place, the Ducks would have to feel good about their chances.

Especially after watching Johnny Manziel whip through the Alabama defenders like they were a stack of photos awaiting his signature.

Two things were evident Saturday during and after Alabama 49, Texas A&M 42.

Manziel is the best player in college football for the second straight season. He’s a better player than he was during his redshirt freshman run to the Heisman Trophy. You can’t teach or touch his combination of skills and improvisation.

As good as Manziel is, Texas A&M lost because Alabama is the best team in the game for the third straight year. On a day when the defense gave up the most yards in school history, Kirby Smart’s players didn’t surrender. They still made two game-turning interceptions, and all their mistakes weren’t fatal because AJ McCarron and the offense were superb.

Alabama has played just two games, but all three phases of the team have taken a turn in dominating an opponent away from home. How many other teams, even in the top 10, have demonstrated that capability?

Oregon, perhaps?

The Ducks have destroyed a mediocre Football Championship Subdivision team in Nicholls State (66-3), a mediocre ACC team in Virginia (59-10) and a mediocre SEC team in Tennessee (59-14). Based on results to date, it’s likely they won’t even get a hint of a challenge until they play Oct. 12 at Washington.

Oregon just might have a dose of Nick Saban’s personal kryptonite on hand in quarterback Marcus Mariota and coach Mark Helfrich’s version of the hurry-up no-huddle offense.

How good is Mariota? Oregonian columnist John Canzano wrote Saturday that if Manziel had stuck to his original commitment to play for Oregon, "he'd be spending his Saturdays mopping up in the fourth quarter" as Mariota's backup.

I don't see it, but Canzano sees Mariota on a regular basis.

The Oregon quarterback torched Tennessee, completing 23 of 33 passes for a career-high 456 yards and four touchdowns. Only two other quarterbacks have thrown for more yards against the Vols. Only one other team has piled up more total yards against them than Oregon’s 687.

It was Tennessee’s worst loss by margin since 1910.

No one would confuse the Tennessee defense with the Alabama defense, but no one is confusing this Alabama defense with the program’s superior units from 2009 or 2011. It may take an elite offense with elite talent to exploit it, but that’s exactly what Oregon has in Mariota and friends.

We’re a long way from an Alabama-Oregon showdown in the BCS Championship Game on Jan. 6 in the Rose Bowl, but it’s hard to imagine a more compelling matchup of contrasting styles. I'd love to see it since I predicted it back in August.

Two questions if it comes to pass: Would Oregon have any more success against Alabama than it did against Auburn? And what would Alabama fans do with all those Roll Ducks Roll T-shirts?