USC-Oregon College GameDay guest picker revealed for Saturday

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The Oregon Ducks have one of their most successful alumni coming to Eugene for the huge game on Saturday against USC. Marcus Mariota will be joining ESPN College Gameday as a guest picker. Mariota had a fantastic career at Oregon, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2014. He was the first player in program history to win the award.

Mariota is a familiar face to USC as well. In his lone matchup against the Trojans in 2012, he propelled the Ducks to a 62-51 victory in a shootout for the ages. Marcus Mariota had 304 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, and 96 yards rushing versus the Trojans.

In 2025, both USC and Oregon have talented offenses and quarterbacks. Dante Moore is not the athlete Marcus Mariota was in his heyday at Oregon, but he is one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country. Moore recently broke the program’s record for completion percentage in a game. He will do all he can to ensure a victory over USC.

On the other side, Jayden Maiava has the ability to extend plays, and he is an underrated athlete, but he does more as a passer. Maiava currently leads the Big Ten in passing yards, and he has the weapons to put up another big performance versus Oregon. To ensure success in this game for the Trojans, Maiava will have to use his legs to extend plays instead of forcing throws when he does not like what he sees. If he can combine his legs with his gun-slinging aggressiveness, he could produce a Marcus Mariota-level stat line.

It has been some time since College GameDay was last in attendance for a USC game, but this game could meet the high expectations set for it. Given that Marcus Mariota will be in attendance, this game has all the makings to be one of the games of the year. Whether USC or Oregon comes out on top, the safest bet will be on the over for the total.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Heisman winner Marcus Mariota is GameDay guest picker for USC-Oregon

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