SEATTLE – Marlon Wood was like any kid growing up: He wanted to rebel.
For Wood, that meant he would be a fan of any college football team that wasn’t USC.
Why the hatred? Wood grew up hearing all about the virtues of the Trojans football program from his father Richard, a three-time All-American linebacker and two-time national champion for the Trojans (from 1972-74). So Wood’s father and mother brought Marlon up with stories about how great USC is, and he didn’t want to hear it.
“I never grew up a fan of them,” Wood said. “Of course it was hatred. I want other teams to beat them, that’s the point. I had to be against them. If the game was on TV, they were playing Notre Dame, I went out and bought a Notre Dame t-shirt and wore it around the house and just be messing with my parents.”
Ironic, then, that Wood’s best and worst moments of the 2005 season happened against the Trojans. Wood returned a kickoff 92 yards down the right sideline, but at the end of the play, he went down hard, snapping his leg and ending his first season as a Husky.
But Wood said that is in the past and he isn’t worried about it.
Instead, he’s focused on helping Washington upset the No. 3 Trojans this week in Los Angeles. And his dad is pulling for the Huskies.
“He’s all for Washington,” Wood said. “It’s been like that for awhile now. He just wants us to beat USC.”
Wood said his animosity for the Trojans has less to do with USC than just wanting to be different from his parents. He grew up in Tampa, Fla. and followed teams in the ACC and SEC rather than teams in the West. In fact, Wood said the only USC fans in the household were his mom and dad, and that was enough to drive him the other direction.
“They used to brag about how USC was going to win this, USC was going to win that,” Wood said. “So I had to be different from them. … I wanted to see them lose so bad, I didn’t care (who they played).”
If the Huskies beat the Trojans, some of it might have to do with Wood, who is coming off of his best game of the season as Washington’s punt returner. In the victory over Arizona, Wood averaged 14.3 yards on three returns and now averages 8.3 yards this season.
“Marlon did a wonderful job (against Arizona),” head coach Tyrone Willingham said. “He’s been aggressive the last two weeks and really taking it upon himself to make plays. You like your punt returners to be aggressive and take chances while also being smart in the chances they take. And Marlon is doing that, we’ve been very pleased with him.”
Mason happy to be here: Aaron Mason was at the airport ready to fly to Seattle for fall camp when he found out he wouldn’t be eligible to join the Huskies. He hadn’t passed a test he needed to pass to get his Associate in Arts degree from Santa Monica Community College and until he did, his Division I career was put on hold.
“It was a struggle trying to figure out if today was the day,” Mason said. “I stayed in constant communication but they can give you the runaround. It was a stressful situation.”
Mason’s situation finally was resolved last week, as he re-took – and passed – the test and was cleared to join the Huskies. It’s too late for the 270-pound junior to help the team this year – he’s expected to redshirt – but he’s just glad to be on the team.
“I get to learn the program, get fundamentally stable with academics,” said Mason, a Santa Monica native who was the No. 87-ranked JC recruit by Rivals.com last season. “This is a perfect opportunity.”
Going deep: Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said to expect more deep balls to be thrown like they were against Arizona.
“That’s me, that’s what I believe in,” Lappano said. “It started last spring, we started throwing the ball vertically. … We want to take shots every game. We’re not going to let people sit on us. … No matter if we have guys who run really fast or not, it doesn’t matter, we’re going to throw the football down the field.”
Injury update: Tyrone Willingham said there was no further news on any of the injured players, in particular Robert Lewis (foot) and E.J. Savannah (thumb). He said he wasn’t sure if C.J. Wallace (shoulder) or Scott White (shoulder) would continue to wear red shirts during practice.
Victory club: There were four members of the Victory Club following the Arizona win: Defensive tackle Wilson Afoa, defensive end Greyson Gunheim, quarterback Isaiah Stanback and running back Kenny James.
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