Passing Grade for USC; UCLA Fails : Marinovich, Returning After Wrist Injury, Lifts Trojans to 42-3 Victory

The USC Trojans had to endure the nightmare of the Illinois game.

They just smiled at the dream game against Utah State.

But Saturday at the Coliseum, they had to wonder if they were ever going to wake up against Ohio State.

Here they were, facing another big challenge of the season and failing miserably.

Their defense had given up more rushing yards (61) on the first six plays than they had given up all season (59).

Their offense was again sputtering and their redshirt freshman quarterback had already thrown an interception and was hunched over on the Coliseum grass gripping an injured wrist.

And then it happened--suddenly, quickly and decisively.

In just under four minutes, all the questions seemed to be answered. A team found a quarterback, an identity and the confidence it has been seeking since opening day.

Reserve quarterback Shane Foley came on to throw a touchdown pass, Todd Marinovich came back to throw four, including the longest in school history, and the Trojans came back from a 3-0 deficit to score six consecutive touchdowns in a 42-3 victory.

It was the most one-sided loss in Buckeye history since a 58-6 defeat by Michigan in 1946.

“This is the first time this year we feel we’ve accomplished something with the football team we feel we can be,” Coach Larry Smith said.

Added Ricky Ervins, the USC tailback who carried 21 times for 120 yards: “We knew it was only a matter of time.”

That’s the one thing Marinovich hasn’t had. Thrown into the fury of big-time college football in the last scrimmage of the preseason when projected starter Pat O’Hara went down with a season-ending knee injury, Marinovich struggled against Illinois, failing to go deep until the final two plays of the game.

But armed with a wide-open game plan against the Buckeyes, he put on an aerial show, hitting 14 of 22 for 246 yards and the four scores.

“I knew we were capable of busting loose,” Marinovich said, “and I wanted to be in there.”

But he wasn’t. Not at first.

Marinovich went out early in the second quarter after handing the ball off to Ervins. Ohio State defender Tom Lease, arriving at the instant of the handoff, hit Marinovich and fell on top of the quarterback as he went to the ground, landing on the wrist.

In came Foley, a junior who was elevated to the backup spot when O’Hara went down.

Five plays later, the Trojans had their first touchdown of the season aside from the Utah State massacre. Foley faked a handoff into the line, sprinted right on a third-and-three from the Ohio State three-yard line, spotted tight end Scott Galbraith ahead of defenders Vinnie Clark and Bryan Cook, and softly laid the ball in his hands.

Ohio State, ahead at the time, 3-0, on Pat O’Morrow’s 45-yard field goal in the first quarter, would not see the lead again.

But with the crowd of 69,876 cheering wildly for Foley, Marinovich shook off the pain of a sprained wrist, showed Larry Smith on the sidelines that he could throw just fine and waited for the signal to go back in.

He got it.

“We talked about it,” Smith said when asked if he considered staying with Foley. “But Todd took some snaps and said he felt good. We figured if he can’t go, we’ll go back to Shane.”

No way. Marinovich, who dreamed of this job since childhood, wasn’t about to lose it so easily.

Following an Ohio State punt, Marinovich handed off for two short gains, then faced a third-and-two at his own 13-yard line.

Given excellent protection, he waited and waited before finally throwing a bomb that John Jackson caught at the Ohio State 48-yard line.

Jackson was looking inside, then turned outside when the ball sailed toward the sideline. Trying to adjust with him, Buckeye defensive back Clark slipped to one knee, then quickly recovered.

“I was trying to adjust,” he said softly in the quiet of the losing locker room.

It was too late. Although the ball seemed to come down a bit short, Jackson was there, a step ahead of Clark.

“Those bombs always seem to take forever,” Jackson said. “But I felt I could outrun (Clark). I knew if it was a foot race, I would win. I wanted to get to the outside to get to my top speed.”

Once he got there, Jackson was gone, all the way to the end zone, an 87-yard pass play, the longest touchdown pass in USC history.

The record, 80 yards, was reached twice, by Jim Powers to Al Cantor against Washington in 1949, and by Jim Contratto to Lindon Crow against Washington State in 1954.

Before he was done, Marinovich also threw scoring passes to Gary Wellman for 19 and 17 yards, and an 11-yarder to Galbraith, his second touchdown catch of the day.

Foley came back in in the fourth quarter and put together one last drive, Mazio Royster going over from the one.

The Trojan domination was total. They gained 491 yards to Ohio State’s 223, outrushing them 233 to 88 and outpassing them 258-135.

“We had a false sense of confidence (against Utah State),” USC defensive lineman Tim Ryan said. “Nothing against them, but they were out of our league. Now we have the confidence that we have the potential to be a damn good football team.

“What Todd did today means a lot to the year in terms of confidence. But the most important thing is, now he has confidence in himself.”

Ryan and his fellow members of the defensive unit didn’t offer a lot to be confident about in the first quarter when the Buckeyes, bolstered by a defensive line that averages 6-5 1/2 and 295 pounds, blew open holes and running back Carlos Snow blew right through them.

“We were overruning them,” Ryan said. “It was not that we were knocked off the ball. We were just too aggressive. We just slowed down. (Linebacker) Scott Ross told me, ‘Dude, I’m not going to attack. I’m going to wait until they make their move, then attack. ‘ “

The difference was startling.

After collecting those 61 yards in the first drive, Ohio State wound up with a net gain of only 88 yards for the entire game against a USC rushing defense that entered the game second in the nation.

Snow led the Buckeyes with 83 yards in 11 carries.

“The thing was to use our quickness,” said linebacker Junior Seau, who had half his team’s four sacks, “and not just put our heads down and hope we’d be in their backfield. We just had to attack the angles.

“The thing about Snow is that he is a stocky player with big legs. He’s strong enough to overpower arm tackles. You have to make sure you get the whole Snow or you’re not going to get any at all.”

After the first quarter Saturday, Snow fell often.

As did the Buckeyes.

And finally, after coaching the Trojans to losses in all six of his previous meetings with Midwestern teams, Smith had a winner.

How did it feel?

“Damn good,” he said.

There will be other questions before this season is done, but for now, Larry Smith seems to have all the right answers.

Trojan Notes

USC (2-1) began play ranked 12th, Ohio State (1-1) 25th. . . . The cumulative scores of the last two Trojan games: 108-13. . . . The last time these two teams met in the regular season, Ohio State won, 17-0, in Columbus, in 1964. . . . Five of the seven times these two teams met in the Rose Bowl, a national championship was on the line. USC won the national title in the 1972 and ’74 seasons after beating Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes won in ’54 and ’68 after beating the Trojans on New Year’s Day. In 1979, a USC Rose Bowl win cost Ohio State the national championship. . . . Between the two of them, these teams have won a dozen national championships, USC accounting for eight.