The Mad, Mad Punter Of Louisville

"My first date, I took this chick out and we're in this place and she says, 'See that guy?' And I said, 'Which one? The black-haired guy with the big nose?' 'Yeah.' She says, 'He's Jewish.'

"I tried to be clinical about it. I said, 'How can you tell?' 'Well, just by looking at him.' I said, 'Gee, I hope this doesn't upset you too much, Alice, but I have a terrible confession to make. I don't look like that and I'm Jewish.' One of the players I told the story to said, 'Gee, I didn't know you were Jewish, either. You don't look....'

"After awhile I began to notice the good things. You bump into somebody in the street in Louisville and they say 'Excuse me' instead of 'Get the hell off my foot, you dumb bastard.' And I like the coaches. Coach Corso is wild. He goes nuts on the sidelines. He jumps around. He's young. The whole staff is young. They communicate with you. They changed the whole place around. They brought in a pretty young secretary. Very nice."

Marcus had to beg off at that point to go to Rosh Hashanah services. He said he always went to the services, though it was mostly a reflex action from his childhood. He wasn't sure what his conclusions were about God, except that Coach Corso, an Italian Catholic, is a strong believer, "and listening to him every week leading the team in prayer must be getting tome. I find myself praying right along. "Dear God, let us play well. God, let us not have any injuries. And please, God, let me get in to punt one time today.' "

Scott Marcus, Lee Corso's flower child barefoot punter, made his first start as a varsity player in Louisville in the game with Tulsa. As a substitute, Marcus had punted four times with indifferent success in the opener at Florida State. He punted only once in the next three games. Corso explained that he was "saving Marcus for the right moment."

On a clear, cool day, before a homecoming crowd, Marcus' moment arrived. He punted four times against Tulsa. His average was a whopping 44 yards.

There was less than a minute to play when he was called on to punt for the last time. Corso stopped him on the sidelines. Marcus said, "O.K., coach, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to punt to the right, over there, beyond the hash mark."

"Fine."

"Be alert, now. They're gonna try to bust you. They're gonna give you a 10-man rush. The pressure is on. It's up to you. You see where I mean? To the right over there."