Marinovich Has Passing Marks : College Football: The way the USC quarterback is throwing, he is on target to break many of the school’s records.

After USC quarterback Todd Marinovich threw four touchdown passes against Ohio State, his uncle, Craig Fertig, a Trojan quarterback in the 1960s, came up to him grinning.

“Well, you tied my record,” said Fertig, who once threw four touchdown passes against Cal. “But you didn’t break it.”

Shot back Marinovich: “I’ve got time.”

Does he ever.

Marinovich broke another of his uncle’s marks last Saturday against Stanford when he completed his 152nd pass of the season. That moved Marinovich past Fertig into 12th place on the all-time Trojan list. Among others, he has already surpassed Vince Evans and Jim Hardy.

And Marinovich has played only eight games.

With 3 1/2 seasons left, he seems a good bet, barring injury, to break every passing mark at the school.

Admittedly, that’s hardly like breaking rushing records at USC. For a long time, the pages in the Trojan playbook devoted to the forward pass came labeled with one of those signs found on fire extinguishers: To be used in emergency only.

But Marinovich, following the path blazed by his predecessor, Rodney Peete, is changing all that.

Quickly.

Only two months ago, he was still No. 2 on the depth chart, behind Pat O’Hara. A knee injury suffered by O’Hara in a scrimmage 11 days before the season opener changed that.

But Coach Larry Smith, understandably not yet a believer, kept Marinovich largely under wraps on opening day against Illinois, limiting him to 27 passes and nothing long until the final two desperation throws of a losing effort.

And yet, just five games later, Smith turned Marinovich loose in the home of the defending national champion, allowing him to throw 55 times against Notre Dame. That number broke the school record by 10. Marinovich also set a school record that day for completions with 33.

“The remarkable thing to me is that they told me before the Notre Dame game that they were relying on him to win that game,” said Pat Haden, a former star quarterback for USC and now a broadcaster who worked the Trojan-Irish game. “They have incredible confidence in him.”

So does Haden.

“I think that if he keeps going the way he has, he will be the quarterback that all other quarterbacks at SC are measured by,” Haden said.

Yet, Haden admits that he, too, is surprised at just how fast Marinovich has come on.

“Everybody had high expectations for him,” Haden said. “I knew him as a kid. I heard about him for a long time. I had never seen him (play) in person until Notre Dame, but I came away impressed.

“He has remarkable composure. There may be 100 guys walking the streets of Los Angeles who are tall and can throw the ball as accurately. But what separates him is the mental toughness and the composure. I don’t think it’s something you can learn. It’s innate. Nothing seems to faze him.”

Was Haden anywhere near as confident halfway through his first season?

“I had great confidence,” he said. “But then, I wasn’t asked to carry the team. We had a great defense. I handed off to great backs. And I threw the ball 15 times. Twenty-two times if I was having a great game. He throws that many by halftime.”

Sid Gillman has been watching football for nearly 60 years in various capacities and he can’t remember seeing a quarterback excel so quickly.

“I’m surprised by what he has done, really surprised,” Gillman said from his home in San Diego. “I don’t know anyone who has come on the way he has. But that’s what happens if a guy has got some talent. Especially if he is well coached. And there’s no question Larry Smith is a hell of a coach.

“I haven’t seen much of (Marinovich), but I’ve seen enough to know I’m really impressed. He has a real good, strong arm. And a hell of a lot of poise. He’s going to be something with his ability and size.”

Gillman figures that Marinovich’s 6-foot-4, 210-pound body makes him an ideal quarterback for the ‘90s.

“They are looking for guys who have size now,” Gillman said. “A 190-pounder is not going to make it. Defensive linemen lay on guys like that and they are out for the year. A quarterback has to lift weights, come out of the weight room like an offensive lineman.”

If Marinovich has a liability, it is his habit of throwing interceptions. He threw three crucial ones against Notre Dame and then came back last week and threw two that killed drives against Stanford.

Overall, he has thrown a dozen touchdown passes and eight interceptions. He is just 148 yards short of being the eighth Trojan to throw for 2,000 yards in a season. His completion rate, 62.1%, puts him ahead of Bernie Kosar’s NCAA record for a freshman at Miami--61.5%--and ties the USC record, set by Paul McDonald in 1979 and tied by Peete last season.

Marinovich’s development, fostered by his father, Marv, a star lineman at USC, has been much-chronicled. That the work is paying off doesn’t surprise Marv.

“You would figure that a dad would have inflated expectations, but I knew Todd had those capabilities,” Marv said. “To do it at Notre Dame is another thing. I had to see that.

“But from week to week, he has gone to the next level because of his focus. He is never satisfied. A lot of guys would figure they have arrived and they don’t have to do anything else.”

After a game, it is Marv to whom Todd still turns for advice.

“He wants to know what I think,” Marv said. “I think I’m pretty tough on him. We talk about mechanics and concentration. He’ll ask me, ‘What did you think about this play?’ It’s kind of fun.

“We’ve done this since he played youth football. Other kids would give it a rest. We carried it on at the dinner table.”

Is Todd playing for his dad?

“The whole thing that he is doing it for somebody else is just not so,” the senior Marinovich said. “You can’t make someone work as hard as Todd has worked for someone else. He is doing it for himself.

“I’m just enjoying watching him play. I would have been pleased with just his high school accomplishments. All this is unbelievable for a dad.”

Two things in particular impress Haden about Marinovich, his ability to handle the rush and his ability to run.

“A lot of guys, when they get rushed, take their eyes off what’s going on downfield,” Haden said. “Todd moves his feet, but keeps his eyes downfield and avoids the rush. Look at how many passes he completes to the fullback and the tight end. Those guys are usually not the primary receivers, so the fact that he’s completing passes to those guys tells you he’s doing a good job reading defenses.

“The other thing is, I was shocked how well he ran against Notre Dame. He showed very good foot speed. I’ll bet you he can do the 40 in 4.8.”

So how good can Marinovich be?

“The big thing is, he has to keep some perspective about his life and all this exposure,” Haden said. “He seems to have a pretty good head about himself, but the real challenge is if he can work as hard over the next three years as he has over the last 10. If he does, he’ll be a candidate for All-American and the Heisman Trophy in a couple of years and he’ll be the best quarterback USC ever had.”

Trojan Notes

As promised, Notre Dame has sent a letter from the team apologizing for its role in the pregame brawl between the two squads 10 days ago. Coach Larry Smith sent a return letter to Notre Dame from the USC players, supporting “the philosophy that there is no place for this action in the game of football” and looking forward to the continuation of the long rivalry.

THE RIVALRY CONTINUES

BRET JOHNSON

Rebounding from a sub-par performance against Oregon State, the El Toro grad seemingly had things well in hand as he led UCLA to a 21-0 first quarter lead. But, things went downhill from there with one interception leading to a Washington score and another in the end zone blunting a Bruin drive. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 217 yards. One of his completions went for a touchdown.

SEASON STATISTICS Eight-game totals PASSING: 117 of 201, 10TDs, 10 INT YARDS PASSING: 1,386 RUSHING: 29 for 40 yards, 1TD

TODD MARINOVICH

For the second straight game, the Capistrano Valley High product threw for more than 300 yards as he completed 22 of 33 passess. He shredded Stanford’s defense for 303 yards, but failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time since USC’s season opener. He also was intercepted twice.

SEASON STATISTICS Eight-game totals PASSING: 159 of 256, 12 TDs, 8 INT YARDS PASSING: 1,852 RUSHING: 43 for 11 yards, 2 TDs