COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : USC : Boos for Marinovich Turn to Cheers

Quarterback Todd Marinovich was greeted by scattered boos when he ran onto the field for the first time Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

But as he met with reporters outside the locker room after throwing a game-winning 23-yard touchdown pass to freshman Johnnie Morton with 16 seconds left in USC’s 45-42 victory over UCLA, dozens of fans gathered on a walkway above, calling out his name and cheering wildly.

“I don’t hear any booing now,” Marinovich said.

Asked how the Trojans’ 75-yard game-winning drive compared to last season’s game-winning drive against Washington State, Marinovich said: “It was a little bit like it, but this was UCLA, not Washington State.”

Tailback Mazio Royster needs eight yards to become only the third USC sophomore to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Anthony Davis ran for 1,191 yards in 12 games as a sophomore in 1972, averaging 99.2 yards a game and 5.8 yards a carry. In 1977, Charles White ran for 1,478 yards in 12 games, averaging 123.2 and 5.2.

Royster, who ran for 157 yards in 31 carries against UCLA, didn’t even play in the Trojans’ first two games of the season.

In seven games as USC’s starting tailback, he has rushed for 924 yards and eight touchdowns in 176 carries, averaging 132 yards a game and 5.3 yards a carry. Five times, he has rushed for more than 100 yards.