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Ducks Prepare To Face Buckeyes In First-Ever National College Championship Game

Tiffany Eckert

In a lead up to the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the Oregon Ducks gave members of the media some time. A few key players gave interviews then all mics pointed toward Heisman winner, Quarterback Marcus Mariota. KLCC's Tiffany Eckert was there and filed this report.

Mariota says as a boy growing up in Hawaii, he dreamed of winning a national championship game. Now he has the chance.

Mariota: "You know I'd trade the Heisman to win this. --no disrespect but it means a lot more because it's a team effort."

Ask any member of the Oregon Duck Football team and chances are you'll hear about "the process." Mariota explains what it means.

Mariota: "Trusting each other, trusting win the day, trusting the next man up. And if you trust that the coaches will put you in the right spots. Really, all those things together is the process."

Duck Coach Mark Helfrich prepares his team by recognizing how the "Super Bowl of college football" will be unlike any other game they've played.

Helfrich:"The atmosphere will be totally different. The Ohio State legendary fan base; it will be a different ratio of Oregon fans to Ohio State fans. And, it's indoors. That lends to a much more energized atmosphere."

Credit Tiffany Eckert
Head Coach Mark Helfrich says the Ducks are ready.

Still, Coach Helfrich says, the Ducks are ready to face the Buckeyes. The championship game is next Monday, January 12th.

Tiffany joined the KLCC News team in 2007. She studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and worked in a variety of media including television, technical writing, photography and daily print news before moving to the Pacific Northwest.
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