The Oregon Ducks are a revolutionary football program led by a revolutionary coach in Mark Helfrich - who studied under an even more revolutionary coaching mentor in Chip Kelly - and paced by a revolutionary offensive attack.
Is it possible that the focal point of that attack - Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota - could, in fact, be revolutionary himself?
Could Mariota, who threw for 4,121 yards, 40 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions this season at only 21 years of age and is, as of this moment, readying to lead the vaunted Ducks' attack into the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship against the Ohio State Buckeyes, be the greatest quarterback in college football history?
He's got the stats - 10,463 yards, 103 touchdowns and 13 interceptions passing and 2,198 yards and 29 touchdowns rushing in three seasons as the starter for Oregon. He's thrown a touchdown pass in every single one of his 40 career starts, the second-longest streak in FBS history. He leads the nation in QB rating after ranking seventh in 2012 and 2013, and he's on pace to set the FBS record for career interception percentage.
He's got the awards - he's the first-ever Heisman winner in Oregon's storied pigskin history, and he's been Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team each year as a starter.
What it all may come down to for Mariota and his candidacy for the make-believe "Greatest Of All Time" moniker, according to Ted Miller of ESPN, is winning the national title on Jan. 12 - another feat the school has never before managed.
Defeating the Buckeyes and leaving Oregon with the lasting legacy of a championship victory would certainly be a monumental feather in Mariota's cap and serve to further his case as the greatest college QB to have played the game.
But, what if he doesn't win the title? Without the all-important championship, does he stand up to the other nominees for best of all time?
Florida's Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel both had multiple statistically stunning seasons, and won Heismans and national championships.
USC's Matt Leinart doesn't have numbers like Mariota, Tebow or Wuerffel, but he went 37-2 as a starter, won the Heisman in 2004 and finished sixth in voting in 2003 and third in 2005, and came within a hairs breadth of winning three national titles in a row.
Tommie Frazier went undefeated on his way to winning two consecutive national titles at Nebraska.
And TCU's Sammy Baugh was a two-time All-American who had 39 career TD's during a time when the sport was all about the ground game.
Whether or not Mariota leads the Ducks to a national title victory remains to be seen, but his legacy as one of the greatest college signal-callers of all time - if not, in fact, the greatest - will endure, no matter the outcome.
And for a player whose next step is the NFL and the continuation of his already stellar football career, being considered the greatest college quarterback ever may not really be that big of a deal.
