Season Ends With Little Sun, but Sound Advice for Marinovich

On the field after the John Hancock (Don’t Call Me Sun) Bowl Monday, a young fan called out to Todd Marinovich: “Stay in school, man.”

A sound piece of advice.

If there is a draft that Marinovich should enter this year, it’s the World League of American Football draft.

On closing day of 1990, the sophomore USC quarterback performed so dismally against Michigan State that he was lifted with nine minutes remaining and the outcome in doubt.

After the Trojans lost, 17-16, Marinovich pulled on a brand new pair of boa boots and said the factory-rate footwear was the highlight of his trip to El Paso.

The lowlights in chronological order:

--An underthrown ball that missed Gary Wellman in the end zone and was intercepted by safety Mike Iaquaniello in the first quarter.

--A shot in the ribs from Michigan State linebacker Carlos Jenkins early in the second quarter that deposited Marinovich on the John Hancock Bowl logo at mid-field and kept him out of the lineup for a play.

--A fumble into the end zone that cost the Trojans what would have been a touchdown in the second quarter. USC has gotten away with phantom touchdowns before, but you can’t fool these WAC officials.

--An interception by Freddie Wilson that led to a Michigan State field goal late in the third quarter.

--Another interception by Iaquaniello early in the fourth quarter.

--A seat on the bench when Coach Larry Smith switched to Shane Foley with the ball on the USC 43-yard line, 9:01 remaining and the Trojans trailing, 17-13.

--An exchange of words with Smith on the sidelines that reminded TV viewers of the Phil Simms-Bill Parcells debates. “I was ready to play,” Marinovich said after explaining that his ribs didn’t bother his delivery. “You’ll have to ask the coach why he made the change.”

Said Smith: “I just felt we needed a change of pace.”

What Marinovich needs now is some rest and relaxation.

“I’m going to take a vacation and think about everything,” he said.

Certainly, his performance on New Year’s Eve day was no cause for celebration among National Football League teams in need of a quarterback. Some pro scouts project him to go as low as the sixth round if he decides to declare himself eligible for the draft.

But others still like his size (6-feet-4, 210 pounds), age (22 next July) and ability to conduct a two-minute drill.

And if there is room for ol’ Babe Laufenberg and Marc Wilson in the NFL, maybe there is room for young Todd Marinovich, too.

Besides, there doesn’t seem to be a good deal of love lost between coach and quarterback at USC.

Marinovich was benched for the Arizona State game after missing classes, and Smith claimed the starting job for the Hancock Bowl was open as recently as Saturday after Marinovich missed some practices because of an ear infection.

“Will the way you’ve been treated enter into your thinking?” Marinovich was asked in the USC locker room.

He nodded yes.

There was a question about somebody’s else thinking after the Trojans’ fourth consecutive defeat in bowl games that pay less to the participants than the Rose Bowl.

On fourth and 11, with 3:12 left, USC trailing by four and Foley at the controls, Smith called upon Quin Rodriguez to kick a 43-yard field goal.

Smith’s strategy was to put the Trojans within another field goal of victory, but they had to get the ball back--and Michigan State didn’t cooperate.

Instead, the Spartans played the kind of “smash-mouth” football that Smith had predicted they would, running out the clock with seven rushes and two first downs.

Just ask Matt Willig about smash-mouth football. In the second quarter, the 6-8, 255-pound Trojan defensive tackle was decked by a right hand thrown by 6-3, 300-pound Spartan offensive guard Eric Moten. It was a cheap shot that proved expensive to Moten, who was ejected.

The Trojans and Spartans didn’t hit it off real well throughout a sunny afternoon at “America’s Fun Bowl.”

The teams talked trash, and threw it, too.

“They were full of it, all right,” Todd Marinovich said, “but we didn’t shut them up.”