Oklahoma linebacker takes long road home

MIAMI (AP) _ Torrance Marshall always figured he would wind up playing college football in his hometown of Miami. It's just taken much longer than he expected. <br><br>Marshall is Oklahoma's other

Tuesday, January 2nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ Torrance Marshall always figured he would wind up playing college football in his hometown of Miami. It's just taken much longer than he expected.

Marshall is Oklahoma's other linebacker, the complement to All-American Rocky Calmus. At 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, with a 36-inch vertical leap and 4.5 speed, there was never any doubt that Marshall was a player.

The only question was whether he would get the chance.

``In the back of my mind, I always knew I was going to play somewhere,'' Marshall said.

He would have liked to play at Miami out of high school, but admits he ``wasn't anywhere close'' to qualifying academically. He grew up in a broken home, raised by his father, and wasn't much of a student.

While in high school, his father decided to move to a different school district. Marshall wanted to stay at the same school, so he moved in with the family of a friend. Leslie and Gloria Thompson became his legal guardians, and they helped him crack down in school and provided the structure and discipline he lacked.

He earned his diploma, but had to attend a junior college. He chose Kemper Military Academy in Missouri, where he played in 1996 and '97.

``It took some getting used to, but it was something I had to do if I wanted to continue what I wanted to do,'' he said. ``That's what made it easier.

``I thought that with it being a military school, that when D-1 coaches came by, they would probably look at me a little better. If we were even, I might get the edge because I was in a military school.''

But coming out of Kemper, he came up one class short of being able to qualify for Miami. So he returned home and went to Miami Dade Community College, which didn't have a football program but where he worked to finish his associate's degree.

A counselor at Miami Dade, Nick Adamo, knew the father of Mark Mangino, then an assistant coach at Kansas State. He gave Mangino a call, suggesting he take a look at Marshall.

``He said he had a young man who's very talented who needs a second chance in life,'' Mangino said. ``I hung up the phone and forgot about it.''

About a month later, Adamo called Mangino again. That time, Mangino, who had moved on to become an assistant coach at Oklahoma, requested tape from Kemper and got some on Marshall's high school days.

``I called over the defensive coaches and said, 'What do you think about this guy?' They said he looks pretty good. We decided that if he got his A.A. degree, we'd offer him a scholarship.''

Marshall arrived at Oklahoma in the summer of 1999, after completing his work at the community college. He wound up starting every game of the '99 season and was a major contributor on defense, although it wasn't an easy adjustment.

``He wasn't as dedicated to being a great player when he first got here, and I had a problem with that because I could see he had the ability, the God-given talent, which is something you can't coach,'' said linebackers coach Brent Venables.

``He always thought somebody was out to get him,'' Venables recalled. ``He always thought somebody was there to lead him astray or trying to con him. He was a product of his environment, his upbringing _ don't trust anybody, you have to fend for yourself.''

Marshall eventually started to believe that the coaches, if they hollered at him or corrected him or got onto him for not paying attention in a meeting, were just trying to make him a better player. Then he blossomed.

At the start of this year, he was voted one of the team captains. He followed up on that honor by putting together an outstanding season, particularly in the second half of the year.

``Probably the person that's stepped it up the biggest the last six weeks has been Torrance,'' coach Bob Stoops said. ``Rocky's always played at a very consistent, good level. Torrance has for the most part as well, but in the last six weeks, he has really turned it on and been very consistent, a big factor.''

Marshall made what is arguably the biggest play of Oklahoma's undefeated season. With the Sooners trailing in the fourth quarter at Texas A&M, he intercepted a pass and returned it 41 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

The interception came as he dropped into coverage of a route he had busted several times during the week of practice. But he played it perfectly at just the right time.

``At this time of year, I was just trying to raise my stock, to be honest with you,'' said Marshall, a married father of two. ``Coming in, I wasn't projected very high (by pro scouts). That gave me some motivation to come into this season and just have a better season than last year.

``The last six weeks of the season, I've just been trying hard, just like my other teammates. Fortunately, some good things have happened.''

Like getting to go home again.