THE VIOLENT WORLD OF A USC LINEBACKER : Marcus Cotton: Too Good to Be Left Alone

Frustration gnaws at Marcus Cotton, USC’s strong-side outside linebacker. He figuratively wants combat with his opponents out in the open, but he has been caught up in guerrilla warfare.

According to Cotton, opposing teams are running away from his side of the field and when players do engage him, he said he is being gouged, clipped and kicked.

He also believes that USC’s defensive scheme is more structured this year and he hasn’t been turned loose to his satisfaction.

So, in his frustration, he has been verbal on the field, and has reportedly been cautioned by his coaches to cool it and not become a target for taunting opponents.

But, above all, he said he wants to win, making his senior season a memorable one.

Even though Cotton is exorcising some demons this season, he is performing at a high enough standard to have been selected as a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, honoring the nation’s best linebacker.

He was a semifinalist last year, too, and several publications placed him on their preseason All-American teams this year.

Cotton’s forte is the manner in which he ranges from sideline to sideline, sacking quarterbacks, or running down running backs.

He admittedly had a sub-par performance in the opening game against Michigan State. USC defensive coordinator Chris Allen said, however, that Cotton has improved his game a notch at a time since that September game.

His statistics are comparable to last year’s, which made him a first-team All-Pacific 10 and second-team All-American selection.

Cotton has 89 tackles in 8 games, including 11 for losses totaling 77 yards. He has also forced 5 fumbles, recovered 2, and deflected 6 passes. In 1986, Cotton had 102 tackles, including 18 for losses covering 102 yards. Cotton has been a starting linebacker for three years after backing up All-American Jack Del Rio on the weak side as a freshman in 1984.

He has become well acquainted with quarterbacks, whom he says he dislikes by the nature of their position. His quarterback sack production has reached 34 and counting.

Yet, he’s impatient to make more of a contribution. He masks his feelings with a smile but when asked about his frustrations, he said:

“A lot of different things build up. You get double- and triple-teamed, you get held, tackled and then you don’t get to rush the passer when you drop into pass coverage. Teams either run the ball or don’t throw to your side.”

Cotton figures prominently in the game plans of opposing teams and they have literally left their marks on him.

“I got a bump on my head, a pinched nerve in my neck and a bruised muscle in the Notre Dame game,” Cotton said. “I fractured a thumb against Oregon when I was kicked by the tight end. In our last game, against Washington State, a tight end came off my block and clipped me and hyper-extended my right knee.

“It’s hard. I hate to lose in anything. They say forgive and forget. I forgive, but I never forget. I hold a grudge.”

His pay-back list is growing, even though as a senior he won’t be able to confront his tormentors again. He is especially annoyed by so-called chop blocks.

“It’s supposed to be illegal,” he said. “You’re trying to ward off a lineman and a back comes and cuts you,” Cotton said. “It’s a clip and it’s happened all season, but it’s been called only once, against Michigan State.

“I’ve learned to deal with the holding, but I can’t deal with guys tackling me. They’re playing with a guy’s career.”

So Cotton has been observed pushing and jawing at opposing players, sometimes incurring penalties, a behavior that Coach Larry Smith doesn’t tolerate.

“It’s just frustration,” Cotton said. “It’s nothing major, just a way of letting off a little steam. Also, it seems like a lot of teams don’t run to our strong side. I don’t know if that’s their offensive scheme, respect, or whatever, but just a lot of things have happened.

“They come out, grab your face mask. And I’ve been poked in the eye a couple of times. Dumb things really get you upset. It’s hard to control your temper for a whole game.

“You try to plead with an official and you talk to them in their language, like, ‘Please Mr. Official, sir.’ When we played Oregon, I asked an official to please watch the holding and this and that. On one play he told me, ‘I saw the hold, but it was away from the play.’

“Then, against Oregon State, a guy took me down in the backfield blatantly. But an official told me the ball had already been thrown.

Allen commiserates with Cotton, saying: “The holding they are allowing these days because of a new rule is almost criminal.”

Allen said that the rule allows offensive linemen to extend their arms, but within the framework of a defensive player’s body.

“But what has happened is that they’re just tackling guys now,” Allen said. “And it has gotten progressively worse.”

Cotton said his style is cramped by USC’s defensive scheme under the new coaching regime.

“I can’t pinpoint it, but it doesn’t seem like I’ve been turned loose like I used to be, just rushing the passer,” Cotton said. “In a lot of games we’ve played so far, I’ve been lining up as a defensive back, trying to take the receivers away.”

Asked if he had been given more freedom in previous seasons under Coach Ted Tollner, Cotton said: “I wouldn’t say they put me on my own, but it was pretty much read and go. Now it’s zone (defense), period.”

Cotton conceded, though, that some teams have stayed on the ground against USC, notably Notre Dame, depriving him of an opportunity to rush the passer.

“In some games our secondary provides great coverage, which enables our defensive line to make big plays, so I don’t have to rush,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love that. I don’t mind beating up on a receiver as long as the others get the sack. Just as long as it’s done.”

USC will play Stanford Saturday at the Coliseum, and Cotton has unwittingly provided the Cardinal with added incentive by an interview he had a few weeks ago with a reporter from the Bellevue Journal-American in Washington.

Cotton was talking about USC’s game with Washington when he reportedly said: “Stanford is a joke, just a joke. I wouldn’t insult a high school team by comparing them to Stanford.

“I watched Stanford play UCLA and they were pathetic.” (UCLA won, 49-0.)

Cotton’s remarks are prominently featured on a bulletin board in the Stanford locker room.

“I don’t know. If I said it, I guess I said it, but I don’t recall,” Cotton said.

In any event, Cotton isn’t shy about speaking out on any subject, and Allen said the linebacker is an individualist while complimenting him on his workmanlike attitude in practice.

Even though USC has a 5-3 overall record and is still very much alive in the Rose Bowl race, Cotton still broods about defeats, such as the recent 26-15 setback to Notre Dame.

“We were just lax against Notre Dame,” Cotton said. “Why? I have no idea. Some guys were there just to fill space. Notre Dame wasn’t that much better than we were.”

Cotton’s style of play, intimidating and flamboyant, would seem to be best suited for the Raiders.

“I’ve been a die-hard Raider fan all my life,” said Cotton, who grew up in Oakland. “If I had my choice, I’d be playing for the Raiders. Heaven forbid it would be Buffalo.”

Gil Brandt, vice president of personnel development for the Dallas Cowboys, calls Cotton a “state-of-the-art” linebacker.

He is also a frustrated one, but that’s not a permanent condition. Just feed him a few more quarterbacks and he’ll be content.