Unheralded receivers Carrington, Baylis step up in Ducks’ win

Everyone knew about Marcus Mariota, the Heisman Trophy winner.

These guys Darren Carrington and Evan Baylis, not so much.

That Mariota performed as a Heisman winner might be expected in Oregon’s 59-20 rout of Florida State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

He passed for 338 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He ran for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Carrington and Baylis as his top receivers? That was more of a surprise.

Oregon’s receiving corps dug deep this season after losing top target Bralon Addison to a season-ending knee injury during spring practice and then star tight end Pharaoh Brown, who sustained a gruesome leg injury during a Nov. 8 game against Utah. And the Ducks were even more shorthanded when NCAA hurdles champion Devon Allen was injured on the first play from scrimmage on Thursday.

But up stepped Carrington and Baylis, who combined to make receptions on half of Mariota’s 26 completions in 36 passes.

Carrington, a redshirt freshman from San Diego Horizon High, had seven catches for 165 yards, including touchdowns covering 56 and 30 yards in the span of 2 minutes and 22 seconds in the third quarter. He came in with two touchdowns this season among 30 receptions.

Baylis, a redshirt sophomore tight end from Centennial, Colo., made six catches for 73 yards. He came in with four catches for 45 yards.

Backs of the future

Dalvin Cook got the yards. Royce Freeman got the touchdowns — and the victory.

Cook and Freeman, both freshmen, were the leading rushers for their teams this season, and both had moments when they were center stage at the Rose Bowl.

Cook ran for 103 yards in 15 carries and caught three passes for 24 yards for Florida State. But he also had two momentum-killing fumbles in the third quarter.

The first came with Florida State trailing, 18-13, but driving on its first possession of the second half. Oregon responded with a 69-yard scoring drive.

The second came after Oregon had just taken a 32-20 lead, when the ball was stripped from his hands after Cook caught a pass over the middle. Two plays later, Oregon had a 39-20 lead and was off halfway to Arlington, Texas, site of the Jan. 12 national title game.

Freeman ran 12 times for 44 yards, including scoring bursts of one and three yards for Oregon. He also caught two passes for 19 yards.

He’s back

The game’s leading rusher was Oregon’s Thomas Tyner, who missed the Ducks’ last two regular-season games and also the Pac-12 Conference championship game.

Tyner has been bothered by a shoulder injury throughout the season, and he was also hobbled by an ankle injury. His 124 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries against Florida State marked his best game of the season.

They’re both winners

Oregon and Florida State are college football’s winningest programs since the start of the 2010 season.

The Ducks are 60-7. The Seminoles are 58-11.

Points made

Oregon established a Rose Bowl record for points in a game. The previous record was 49, on three occasions.

The 79 total points fell four shy of the record established in 2012, when Oregon defeated Wisconsin, 45-38.

Oregon was involved in both scoring records. Imagine that.

Extra points

Oregon’s 39-point margin of victory is the third largest in 101 Rose Bowl games. Michigan won by 49 points in shutouts of Stanford in 1902 and USC in 1948.… Pac-12 Conference teams have a 5-1 record in bowl games this season, the only loss by Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl. The Atlantic Coast is 5-5.… Mariota could become the 15th player to win a Heisman Trophy and a national championship. The last player to do it: Jameis Winston.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeHiserman