Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota crossed most of an ocean to play for the Ducks, a journey that caught the attention of The New York Times over the weekend.

Times reporter Tim Rohan profiled Mariota in a story that ran Saturday, Aug. 23, and that was reprinted Monday in The Register-Guard. The attention is becoming an old story for the star quarterback, who is once again considered a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He also was featured earlier in USA Today and by The Associated Press.

Mariota, a redshirt junior, has led the Ducks to a 23-3 record over two seasons as starting quarterback. Rohan chronicles his rise through the football-crazed high school scene in Hawaii, Mariota’s home state, to his landing in Eugene, where “he runs the Ducks’ famed offense the way it is supposed to be run, as if he were a prototype quarterback Oregon dreamed up in a lab.”

Mariota will be at the helm for one more season as the Ducks kick off their season this Saturday, Aug. 30, against South Dakota.