Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington has been suspended for the national championship game after he tested positive for marijuana during a random NCAA drug test, a person with direct knowledge of test results said Friday.
The undisclosed spokesperson notified The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of student privacy rules and regulation. Team spokesman Andy McNamara confirmed that Carrington is not with the team but would not indicate precisely why.
Carrington's absence was first reported by CSNNW.com. The Ducks face off against Ohio State for the national championship game this coming Monday.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 191-pound redshirt freshman made his first career start in the victory over Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game. He finished with seven catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.
He also had seven catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns in Oregon's Rose Bowl victory over Florida State on New Years Day.
Not having Carrington leaves the Ducks down two key wide receivers against Ohio State. Oregon lost redshirt freshman Devon Allen on the opening kickoff with a knee injury last week. Allen had forty-one catches for 684 yards and seven touchdowns.
The Ducks have also been playing for the last four games without star tight end Pharoah Brown, who went down with a season-ending leg injury against Utah.
That leaves Oregon, which regularly uses three-and-four-receiver formations, with Byron Marshall (66 catches for 834 yards), Dwayne Stafford (39 for 578), Keanon Lowe (25 for 359) and freshman Charles Nelson (11 for 101) to rely on at wideout.
Tight end Evan Baylis had a breakout game last week with six catches.