More in one half . . .

Thirty minutes before kickoff, Arkansas St. coach Gus Malzahn
gave his credit card to a player and told him to run into town
and buy as many cheap sunglasses as he could. ....

.... It was his desperate solution to help his team and staff
face Oregon's "Lightning on the Sun" helmets.
(Game photos from Oregonian)

After that quarterback performance, we are left to wonder what the controversy was all about. Marcus Mariota did more in one half than what many QB's can do in an entire game. One in particular comes to mind. More on him later.

Completing 18 for 22 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns and rushing 4 times for 24 yards in less than two complete quarters, Mariota showed an amazing grasp of the offense. He looked relaxed, comfortable, and seemed to know where all players on the the field were at all times.

Marcus Mariota has come out from behind
every one's shadow to take the reins of this team.

With fast decisions, accurate passes and quick sprints, Mariota was more than just a quarterback. He was a computer-aided onfield football management machine.

If this is a quarterback....



...this is Marcus Mariota.
Although granted, this illustration
doesn't work with AT&T customers.
They'll tell you this is barely a phone.





Did you see him throw a perfect TD strike with his right hand as he ran left? Did you see him place the ball exactly in the receivers' hands again and again? Did you see him juke tacklers out of their shoes with a little fake flip of the ball and then blow past them? After three years of building and recruiting, this is the guy Kelly has been looking for to master his system.

And then there's DeAnthony Thomas. Scouts of other teams will say to keep a spy on him. But it's clear already that Kelly plans to make that a very hard task. Where will DAT line up play after play? Outer strongside receiver? Outer weakside? Inside slot? Running back? I'll bet Kelly will even put him at tight end just to blow D-coordinators' minds.

Where is DAT? He's in the endzone with the ball.

The Ducks were by no means perfect. Once the starters were pulled, they got outscored. But that's what these games are for. Lots of film to review. Lots of time to practice and get it right with the goal of being a more complete team game-by-game.

But for now, when the front line takes to the field, is there anybody better in the nation? I don't know. But I do know this. Down in L.A., USC celebrated every touchdown and their win over Hawaii like it was a bowl game -- probably because after two years, they finally get to play for one.

And while it took Oregon just the first half to score 50 points, USC celebrated all 49 points they scored in four quarters. In fact leading 42-10 in the fourth, 4th and 3 on Hawaii's 11-yard line, Matt Barkley (Yes, he was still in the game.) threw his final pass into the endzone. Stay classy, Trojans.

Furthermore, (Ya, I'm not done yet. USC is pissing me off.) Hawaii was not allowed to do an onfield walk through in the Coliseum before the game; and that goes for every other team that will play down in Trojan Land this season.  USC says something about  the risk of "messing up the field".

Calling all Pac-12 teams who host the Trojans this year. Do the right thing and flip this crap right back. When USC arrives at their hotel in your city, inform them that they won't be able to practice on the field before the game. Tell them you just repainted the field. It's a new brand of paint -- F.U. Brand -- and it takes an extra day to dry.

And another thing!  We have just learned of another cash/car scandal at USC. It happened back in 2009 while all of their other hooliganisms were occurring before USC's wholesale change of their athletic department and football staff . So it kind of falls under the NCAA's original punishments. But it only came to light recently. So now what is the NCAA supposed to do?

You know what it's like? Picture a few school-age boys on a farm back in the old days. They play with matches and burn down the barn. Pa hollers at them, tans their hides, yells at them some more, whips them so more. He grounds them for the summer, takes away their toys and doubles their chores.

Then as he is cleaning up the charred remains of his barn and preparing to build another, he looks over, only now, to discover that on that same infamous day, the boys also tipped over the outhouse.

Now what is Pa supposed to do? He's already punished them just about everyway he can. The next step would be to sell them to a Gypsy family. But this is just stupid icing on the dumbass cake. 

The football world would suffer if the Trojans were given the death penalty. I say if USC doesn't want another bowl ban, all athletic department staff and players have to forfeit their cars for a year -- even it they own them free and clear. Walk. ride a bike, and while they're at it they can clean all the toilets on campus.

Fresno State. Later.
--kb