Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 9, 1992

Rich Kotite picked the right game to play Jim McMahon and bench Randall Cunningham. . . .

Jose Offerman could have thrown the ball for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and they still would have beaten the Raiders. . . .

I guess the Raiders enjoyed their day off a week ago so much that they decided to take another one Sunday. . . .

Todd Marinovich made some rookie mistakes, but so did the veterans. . . .

Marinovich’s psyche certainly was not helped during the first quarter when Willie Gault dropped a pass that Eric Allen intercepted to set up an Eagle field goal. . . .

Nick Bell has even more reason than Marcus Allen to complain about the way the tailbacks were deployed in Philadelphia. . . .

The good news is that the Raiders don’t have to play another NFC East power until the final game of the year, Dec. 26 at Washington. . . .

NBC analyst Bob Trumpy said Al Davis “made a lot of good decisions 25 years ago.” In fairness to Davis, he must have made some good ones as recently as the 1990 season, when the Raiders reached the AFC championship game. . . .

It is amazing how little difference a year can make for the Rams, who were also ruined by turnovers during a defeat to the Phoenix Cardinals at Anaheim Stadium last season. . . .

Which 3-6 Los Angeles team do you prefer? . . .

You know how badly the Seattle Seahawks are going when 12,307 ticket-holders don’t show up at the Kingdome for a game against the Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. . . .

One of the best coaching jobs in the NFL is being done by Bill Belichick, whose Cleveland Browns have a winning record. . . .

Rout City: Average score of the seven early games Sunday was 30-7. . . .

Rarely has a punter been more important to his team than Josh Miller was to Arizona Saturday when he averaged 47.3 yards on eight kicks and frequently left Washington in poor field position during the Wildcats’ 16-3 victory. . . .

The person who gave quarterback Billy Joe Hobert the $50,000 loan that led to Hobert’s suspension didn’t do the Huskies any favors, either. . . .

Next up for Arizona is USC, which has demonstrated that it is capable of winning or losing against the Pacific 10’s better teams. . . .

Times have changed when Stanford doubles USC in net rushing yardage, 118-59. . . .

Maybe Trojan flanker Curtis Conway should be asked to throw the ball, as well as catch and run it, more often. . . .

Conway’s old Hawthorne High teammate, Chris Alexander, got plenty of work at tailback for UCLA against Oregon State at the Rose Bowl. His 35 carries were only four fewer than the school record set by Anthony Edgar against Wisconsin in 1979 and equaled by Gaston Green against Arizona in 1987. . . .

Nebraska--which has outscored Big Eight contenders Kansas and Colorado, 101-14, the last two weeks--has found an option quarterback who can run and pass. He is true freshman Tommie Frazier, a high school All-American from Bradenton, Fla., who chose the Cornhuskers over Notre Dame. . . .

If Steve Emtman had returned to Washington for his senior year, he would be a strong contender to become the first defensive lineman to win the Heisman Trophy. . . .

Riddick Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, says the Chinese government has offered to pay promoters a record $20-million site fee to stage a Bowe-George Foreman heavyweight title fight in Bejing in March. . . .

The Chinese reportedly are eager to prove they are capable of hosting the Olympic Games in 2000 or 2004. . . .

Lennox Lewis, who knocked out Razor Ruddock recently in what was billed as an elimination bout, would be compensated by receiving a huge purse to box on the card and the assurance that he would get first crack at the Bowe-Foreman winner. . . .

Of course, the plan is contingent on Bowe winning the championship from Evander Holyfield on Friday night in Las Vegas. Despite television commercials to the contrary, the bout will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center on the Nevada Las Vegas campus. The Mirage hotel is the official host, not the site, of the event. . . .

Rafael Ruelas showed Friday at the Forum that the way to take the clown out of Jorge Paez is to knock him down twice in the first round. . . .

Hype Award of the Week goes to NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth, who said Boston College was “on the verge of a national championship” before its game with Notre Dame. Final score: Notre Dame 54, Boston College 7.