DALLAS — Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington is suspended for the national championship game after testing positive for marijuana during an NCAA drug test, a person with direct knowledge of test results said Friday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of student privacy rules. Team spokesman Andy McNamara confirmed that Carrington is not with the team but would not indicate why.
Carrington’s absence was first reported by CSNNW.com. The Ducks play Ohio State for the national championship on Monday.
The 6-foot-2, 191-pound redshirt freshman made his first career start in the victory over Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game, finishing 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 Jan. 1.
Not having Carrington leaves the Ducks down two key wide receivers against Ohio State.
Last week Oregon lost redshirt freshman Devon Allen on the opening kickoff with a knee injury. Allen had 41 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.
