John Canzano

"If you weren't moved by Marcus Mariota's speech, you have a heart of stone," Canzano wrote.

"He was the unusual blend of special athlete and solid human being that too often in our sports world just isn't the case."

Dennis Dodd

"The rest was history made whole Saturday night. Mariota was named on a record 95 percent of the ballots. That leads to the question: Who didn't vote for him?" Dodd stated.

Kirk Herbstreit

"You have to be impressed with this young man," Herbstreit said. "There's been no better player this year in college football."

Lee Corso

"I love this kid's playmaking ability," Corso said.

Corso enthusiastially picked the Ducks to defeat Michigan State in September.

Ryan Kostecka

Kostecka said Mariota showed he deserves the Heisman during the Michigan State game earlier this year.

"Mariota had, what many consider, his first 'Heisman moment,' when he alluded pressure and flipped the ball to a wide open Royce Freeman for the first down," Kostecka said.

"Luckily for the shy Mariota, he didn’t need the extra attention," Zac Ellis wrote. "Oregon’s quarterback did enough on his own this season."

Tim Rohan

Mariota was an inspiration in his home state. He further validated the Oregon football program," Tim Rohan wrote. "And he has become viewed as the N.C.A.A.’s ideal student-athlete, especially after character issues in part defined the previous two Heisman winners, Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel."

Michael Weinreb

I have no idea if Mariota will make it as a pro quarterback; of all the alchemical sciences, quarterback evaluation has become the most confounding to me," Weinreb wrote. "Given Mariota's prodigious accuracy (he's thrown six interceptions in the past two years), intelligence and ability to run and throw with an equal measure of grace, I have to imagine he has a good shot."


 

Andy Hutchins

"Mariota became the most definitive top-three player in any season in the history of college football, if not the most agreed-on Heisman Trophy winner ever."

Chris Johnson

"Marcus Mariota dominated footbal amid lofty expectations."

Ryan Thorburn

"The Ducks’ gracious star is now a college football immortal."

Brandon Sonnone

"The sample size is small and the results are mixed when determining whether the reigning or current Heisman winner has an edge in head-to-head matchups," Sonnnone wrote. "In the previous two instances, a national title has been on the line, so the Jan. 1 semifinal will fittingly determine whether FSU or Oregon makes it to the national championship contest against the winner of Alabama-Ohio State."

Alexander Lee

"His play down the stretch of his junior campaign simply removed any suspense from the Heisman race, turning tonight's festivities into a mere formality," Lee Wrote.

Brian Dohn

"My ballot, in order, was Marcus Mariota, Amari Cooper and Melvin Gordon. I though there were the top three players in the nation, and that was before I went and looked at their statistics," Dohn Wrote. "In choosing Mariota first, it was based on watching him play, and his ability to make the correct reads and throw the ball with tremendous accuracy while playing at a high level."

Chip Brown

"Mariota's selflessness embodies the Heisman Trophy's credo as the 'outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.'"

Dudley Dawson

"The other two young men that were finalists also were fine representatives for the award, but in the end I just felt like the case Mariota put forth was the best."

Dan Legge

"The best player in the college football, which is what this award is about, is and has been Oregon’s Marcus Mariota," Legge Wrote. "I watched him as often as I could this fall."