by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
EUGENE, Ore. — Freshly outfitted in a dark, metal skin, the Moshofsky Center sat mostly idle late Tuesday afternoon.
Construction crews buzzed around the building's exterior like so many worker bees. Some were putting finishing touches on a large yellow "OREGON" newly painted along the indoor practice facility's east-side doors; others continued the redevelopment of Autzen Stadium's north side.
Inside, the Mo was vacant — with one exception.
Standing with his back to a cinder-block wall some 10 feet away, Marcus Mariota clutched a weighted medicine ball, twisted and threw it over his shoulder. After hitting the wall, the ball fell to the turf with a thud; Mariota retrieved it, and did it again. Over and over.
Such are the preparations of an all-Pac-12 quarterback: repetitive, minute in their detail and focus, and essential to his development — in this case, of hip strength.
Mariota was left to attend to the workout alone after returning from a weekend serving as counselor at the Manning Passing Academy.
Such are the ways a star quarterback is pulled in multiple directions. Such are the lengths to which he must go to ensure he doesn't short-change his top priority: the 2013 Oregon football season.
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