It did not matter what Iman Marshall actually thought about the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called against him late in USC’s loss to California that cost the Trojans a third-down stop and a chance to get the ball back for a potential game-winning drive.
“I was talking,” Marshall said. “Everybody talks. It’s football. What else can I say? If we can’t talk, we can’t say anything, what can you do? That’s it.”
Regardless of whether the call was justified in such a crucial moment, Marshall had to live with the frustration of knowing his decision to jaw at the Golden Bears’ sideline Saturday night hurt his team and, ultimately, his embattled head coach.