O’Hara Wins USC Quarterback Job in Spring Practice

USC football Coach Larry Smith announced Friday that Pat O’Hara has beaten out Todd Marinovich, a red-shirt freshman, for the No. 1 quarterback spot going into the fall workouts.

“He’s cut down on his errors and he’s throwing much stronger passes,” Smith said in evaluating O’Hara’s performance in the just-concluded spring practice. “But his biggest suit is the leadership and confidence that he brings.”

O’Hara, who will be a junior, has thrown only seven passes in his college career, all last season.

In addition to O’Hara, the backfield could get another change as Scott Lockwood has taken over the starting tailback spot from Aaron Emanuel, who hurt his case by being 10 to 15 pounds overweight. Smith termed Ricky Ervins “a distant third.”

Starting flanker John Jackson, who plans to graduate in May but has a year of athletic eligibility remaining, will play for the Trojans next season while working toward his master’s degree.

Jackson, who red-shirted as a freshman, was an academic All-American last season. He did not take part in spring practice because he is playing center field for the Trojan baseball team, which he leads in hitting.

In preparation for the Sept. 2 game at Moscow against Illinois, Smith and Athletic Director Mike McGee will make a one-week visit to the Soviet Union at the end of the month to look over facilities.

Additionally, six or eight Trojan football players are taking a class to learn to speak Russian. the coach said. Smith’s wife, Cheryl, and McGee’s wife, Ginger, are also enrolled.

“We know when they’re there,” Smith said of the players. “And what time they walk in the door.”

Safety Cleveland Colter will not require knee surgery as the Trojans feared. He took part in non-contact drills during the last week of practice and reported no swelling.

However, he will have a minor operation on his right wrist to remove a bone chip from a two-year-old injury. No date has been set and it is not expected to result in any lost time in the fall.

The other question mark in the secondary, Marvin Pollard, is attending West Los Angeles College in an attempt to regain his academic eligibility. Offensive lineman Brent Parkinson is in a similar situation and taking classes at College of the Canyons and Cal State Northridge.