Oregon WR Darren Carrington Fails Drug Test, Will Not Play in Championship

By Cheri Cheng - 10 Jan '15 10:36AM

The Oregon Ducks will play in this Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T against Ohio State without their number two wide receiver. According to several reports, Darren Carrington failed a drug test and is ineligible to play.

Carrington reportedly failed an NCAA-administered drug test. Comcast SportsNet Northwest and the Associated Press cited several sources with knowledge of the test results that the freshman had tested positive for marijuana.

The Ducks spokesman Dave Williford confirmed that Carrington did not make the trip to the championship game in Dallas. The team did not elaborate on why Carrington was not with the team. Coach Mark Helfrich confirmed the news as well but did not address the situation during Saturday morning's media day.

"He's ineligible for this game and we'll ride," Helfrich said reported by NFL.com. "We have a bunch of highly skilled guys that are very confident in what they're doing. Marcus is confident in those guys and we're confident in those guys."

"It's tough," Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Marcus Mariota said in regards to losing Carrington. "We'll have to get the next guy ready."

Oregon made an appeal that was heard but denied, FOX Sports reported.

In Carrington's first start of the season against Arizona, the 6-foot-2, 191 pound receiver finished with seven catches for 126 yards with one touchdown. In the Rose Bowl, Carrington had seven catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

The loss of Carrington will no doubt impact Oregon's high-powered offense.