Oregon Ducks’ Marcus Mariota: ‘The knee is good’

Oregon Ducks’ quarterback Marcus Mariota has been playing with a knee brace since the second half of the Ducks’ 42-14 victory over the UCLA Bruins back on October 26.

Mariota has not run nearly as much as he normally would since that game (a 26-20 loss to the Stanford Cardinal and a 44-21 victory over the Utah Utes). In those two contests, he had 10 carries for -34 yards.

According to Jason Quick of the Oregonian, Mariota is nearly back to full strength.

"Offensive coordinator Scott Frost on Saturday said he anticipates Mariota being close to 100 percent, perhaps to the point where he won’t need the brace against the Wildcats. Mariota said he will wait until later in the week to make that decision.“The knee is good,’’ Mariota said. “I went through practice today and felt good.’’Mariota said the knee brace is “a little more restrictive” but he said he doesn’t feel like it affects his decision making."

On the season, Mariota has completed 183-of-285 passes for 2,819 yards with 25 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’s also rushed for 477 yards and nine touchdowns on 66 attempts.

The 9-1 Ducks will be in Arizona to take on the 6-4 Wildcats at 3:30 pm EST Saturday. The game will be on either ABC or ESPN2 depending on your market.