What We Learned: Marrone has no regrets

Sporting News’ Dave Curtis analyzes what Friday’s buzz means to college football.

No buyer’s remorse

Most Sundays, Doug Marrone finds himself absorbed with trying to make Syracuse a football success again. But when he does emerge from his office (which he says doesn’t feature Internet access), he admits to seeking out updates on his former employer.

"I’d be lying if I told you the video people don’t have time to give me updates as the day goes on," Marrone said on a teleconference. "If I go to get a cup of coffee, I may say, ‘How are the Saints doing?’"

Marrone bailed on New Orleans, where he served as offensive coordinator, in December to take over his alma mater’s program. His Orange enter today’s game at Louisville 3-6; "his" Saints enter Sunday’s game at St. Louis 8-0, with some experts thinking they could sweep through the regular season.

Marrone’s old offense (to be fair, head coach Sean Payton calls the plays) is on pace to score better than 600 points this season and could go down as one of the most prolific in NFL history. Several of Marrone’s friends have asked if he rues the move back to college; his wife even broached the subject last weekend.

"I’m so thrilled for them and happy for their success," he said he told her. "But you know what? If I was at the Saints right now, I would wish that I was here."

SC struggling

Washington held USC to 13 points in September. Oregon held it to 20 points in October. Arizona State kept it to 14 points last weekend. The un-Trojan-like numbers have now permeated the whole football season, and show things aren’t as they should be in Los Angeles. Even with a true freshman, Matt Barkley, set to start at quarterback, coach Pete Carroll’s team looked to boast its usual set of star skill players and maybe the nation’s top offensive line. So why the problems?

"We’ve had a lot of dumb penalties," offensive lineman Jeff Byers said this week. "We’ve gotten in a lot of third-and-long situations. And a lot of the big plays we’ve had have gotten nullified. We need to clean that up."

The good news for USC—Stanford comes to town today. The Cardinal can score, but they rank 89th in the country in pass efficiency defense and 60th against the run. Stanford might prove the perfect elixir to the Trojans’ issues.

SEC slugfest

Tonight’s Alabama-Mississippi State game provides a showdown for two of the nation’s best between-the-tackles tailbacks. The Tide’s Mark Ingram is homecoming-king popular, with a Heisman Trophy campaign and a surefire NFL career down the road.

But MSU’s Anthony Dixon has shined even in coach Dan Mullen’s spread offense and he might share some of that future pro success. Bama’s sophomore has 175 carries this season and an average of 127.6 yards per game (sixth in the nation). Dixon has 182 carries and a 125.1-yard average, good for eighth.

"They’re both very physical runners with size and power," Mullen said. "A back like Ingram’s got tremendous vision, tremendous feet. Anthony is very similar."

Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.

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