Herbert

EUGENE — Marcus Mariota’s debut as Oregon’s starting quarterback was against Arkansas State.

And that was after the future Heisman Trophy winner spent an entire year on campus getting acclimated to college life, redshirting out of the spotlight and studying the nuances of Chip Kelly’s blur offense.

With the help of a dynamic surrounding cast, which included Kenjon Barner and De’Anthony Thomas, Mariota completed 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns during the Ducks’ 57-34 victory on Sept. 2, 2012, at Autzen Stadium.

It was a much different story for Justin Herbert last Saturday when the former three-sport star at Eugene’s Sheldon High was thrown to the wolves. Or the Huskies, in this case.

Herbert, a true freshman, was 21-for-34 passing with two touchdowns and an interception in his first start for Oregon, a 70-21 loss to No. 5 Washington.

The first sellout crowd of the season at Autzen Stadium included many of the hometown hero’s friends and family. Herbert’s grandfather, Rich Schwab, a wide receiver on the Ducks’ 1963 Sun Bowl team, was among the nervous throng of supporters.

“I thought it was a little premature,” Schwab said of the coaching staff’s decision to make the change at quarterback. “But I’m not quite sure because I’m not there every day, I don’t watch the practices, I don’t understand the connections and the strengths and weaknesses and all that stuff. I’m just watching, basically.

“I’m very proud, though. I hope he can help the team win because I know his whole goal in playing football is to help the team win.”

There are some uncanny similarities — from their long frames to their mannerisms behind center to their quiet yet unflappable demeanor — between Mariota and Herbert.

But the circumstances of each quarterback’s first season as Oregon’s starting quarterback are dramatically different.

Mariota’s only on-field adversity four years ago was recovering from a BCS championship-killing overtime loss to Stanford and then settling for a 12-1 finish.

Herbert will have to endure his growing pains on a struggling team that is 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-12.

“If it was me in that situation, yeah, it would be a whole bunch of pressure,” Sheldon High coach Lane Johnson said of his former star signal-caller being asked to help stop the Ducks’ sharp decline. “I think to Justin, he’s just worried about leading his team. I texted back and forth with him over the weekend. I was telling him what a good job I thought he did, and all he could talk about was that the team did poorly.

“That’s just typical Justin. He did really well for his first game, but in his eyes it wasn’t even close to good enough because they got drilled.”

Herbert’s first pass for the Ducks was thrown behind wide receiver Charles Nelson and intercepted by Budda Baker, Washington’s highly regarded junior safety.

After settling down, Herbert completed passes to nine teammates, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Tony Brooks-James and a 21-yard pass to Taj Griffin.

“I think he’s going to be a great quarterback,” senior right guard Cameron Hunt said. “He’s got a good head on him, a lot of poise. I see a lot of the same characteristics that Marcus had.

“He’s a great kid, and he will continue to work hard and go a lot of places.”

Herbert’s drive to be great led to his ascension to the backup spot on the depth chart behind senior graduate transfer Dakota Prukop in preseason camp.

Quarterbacks coach David Yost said he was shocked by how well Herbert performed, especially considering he was leading Sheldon to the Class 6A baseball semifinals last spring while freshman quarterbacks Travis Jonsen and Terry Wilson were practicing with the Ducks.

“I always loved his release. He has a very clean release,” said coach Mark Helfrich of what he liked about Herbert coming out of high school. “He’s a very competitive guy, being a multisport guy and excelling at all sports. And he’s been a winner. Those things excite you about a guy who could potentially be your quarterback.”

Johnson assumed the Oregon staff probably had Herbert ticketed for a redshirt year, but he was not surprised that the 6-foot-6, 225-pound prospect grasped the playbook so quickly.

“He’s savvy,” Johnson said. “If (2015 graduate transfer) Vernon Adams can come in and learn the offense in two weeks, I thought Herbie would have a chance to come in and learn it pretty quickly. It’s very impressive.”

After Prukop was unable to deliver in the clutch against Nebraska and Colorado, and then struggled at Washington State, Helfrich decided to turn the offense over to Herbert without limitations.

“That’s kind of one of the good things about how Justin handled that whole situation is we didn’t have to simplify,” Helfrich said. “He’s been a pretty sharp guy, in terms of picking things up. So that part of it we haven’t had to limit.”

In the wake of the program’s first four-game losing streak in 10 years, athletic director Rob Mullens said he will see if the Ducks can turn things around over the final six games before evaluating Helfrich and the coaching staff.

But the responsibility to reverse the Ducks’ fortunes largely falls on Justin Herbert’s shoulder pads.

“I don’t think it would matter who the quarterback is, there’s going to be pressure on him,” Johnson said. “But you put that on an 18-year-old kid, I don’t know if he’s feeling the pressure or not, but he gives them a chance.”