College Report

We think this is a nice sort of poetic justice. If the established bowls don't come up with the most deserving teams or the games the public most wants to see, it's their fault for cutting deals early instead of waiting until the official deadline for extending invitations, which is this Saturday. We hope the Blockbuster is just that.

TROJAN HOSS

Although neither USC nor UCLA will be appearing in Pasadena on New Year's Day, last Saturday they treated a Rose Bowl crowd of 98,088 to a game as exciting as any ever played on that storied field. Bruin quarterback Tommy Maddox passed for a school-record 409 yards, almost twice the 215 yards thrown by his Trojan counterpart, Todd Marinovich ; but Marinovich got the last chance of the day and made the most of it. With only 16 seconds remaining, he lofted a 23-yard pass over UCLA cornerback Dion Lambert to freshman receiver Johnnie Morton in the corner of the end zone, giving the Trojans a 45-42 win and an 8-2-1 record heading into this Saturday's game against Notre Dame.

"All game long I was telling Todd we could make that play in the corner," said Morton . "The defender had me covered, but Todd threw a perfect pass. I just can't believe it happened."

Neither could Marinovich , at least until he heard the Trojan fans roar. As he released the ball, he was knocked down and couldn't see the play. Marinovich 's father, Marv, did see it, albeit from an unaccustomed vantage point. Because of a confrontation with some fans who had booed Todd during a 31-31 tie with Cal on Nov. 3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum , the elder Marinovich decided to stay home in Torrance , Calif. , and watch the game on TV.

Although Todd denies it, the talk in L.A. is that the sophomore will turn pro this spring. The rumor goes that he will skip the regular NFL draft but sign up for the supplemental draft, in which he'll have a better chance of being picked by a team that he likes. For future reference, file away the fact that Marv formerly played and coached for the Raiders when they were in Oakland .

MODEST PROPOSALS

Nobody out there has to thank us, even though it is that time of the year, but here are two changes we would dearly like to see in college football next season.

First, get rid of the phantom touchdowns that occur when a back vaults toward the goal and is knocked back, but still is given six points because his body penetrated the "invisible plane" of the goal line. Hey, let's make the offense get the ball into the end zone and down it there. That is the point of the game, right?

And while we're at it, let's install a sudden-death overtime, the way the NFL has, so coaches will be forced to play to win instead of settling for a tie. The players should love this. Given the choice between going for two points and victory, or kicking for a tie, we bet that 98.9% of the players would vote to go for the win every time. And it is still their game, right?