|
CAREER: His 153 completions puts him 15th on USC's career passing chart. 1999: Playing his third position at USC (he was a quarterback, then tight end, then quarterback again), Fox was moved to linebacker prior to 1999 spring drills and will serve as a reserve on the weak side as a senior in 1999. He also will be the holder on all placekicks and will be a key special teams player, as well as an emergency quarterback. PAUL HACKETT SAYS: "With John, the attitude, experience and leadership he'll bring to the linebacking corps will be invaluable. He's been a very important member of our team and he'll be used in a variety of roles this year." 1998: In fall practice as a junior in 1998, Fox-who started at quarterback in 1997-asked to be moved to tight end (he played sparingly there as the third-stringer). Then, prior to the California game, he asked to be moved back to quarterback, but he did not see any action there as the No. 3 signalcaller. He also saw some action on special teams. 1997: Despite having taken only 10 snaps and thrown only 2 passes (with no completions) in his career prior to 1997, Fox turned in steady performances while exhibiting poise and a strong arm as USC's starter in 9 games (the first 7 and the last 2; all but Washington and Stanford) in 1997 as a sophomore. Overall while appearing in all 11 games in 1997, he completed 153-of-280 passes (54.6%) for 1940 yards and 12 TDs with 8 interceptions. His 153 completions ranked him 12th on USC's season passing list. He had a streak of 90 pass attempts without an interception between the first and fourth games of the season. And he did all this playing on a sprained ankle and strained Achilles tendon that nagged him all season. In the Florida State opener, he hit 18-of-32 passes for 159 yards with an interception, including going 15-of-21 for 129 yards in the second half, and scored USC's only points on a 2-yard scramble in the second quarter. He went 23-of-42 for 229 yards against Washington State. He threw the first TD passes of his career (a 33-yarder and 65-yarder) as he went 15-of-28 for a then-career-best 250 yards at California. He was 23-of-32 (tying his career-high for completions) for a career-best 355 yards (the ninth most yards in USC history and the most since Brad Otton threw for 391 against Northwestern in the 1996 Rose Bowl) and 2 TDs with 2 interceptions versus UNLV, but was particularly effective in USC's fourth-quarter comeback as he hit all 6 of his attempts in the final period for 159 yards and the 2 scores. He had an off day at Arizona State, hitting just 8-of-23 passes for 70 yards (he started off completing just 1 of his first 10 throws) before being replaced late in the third quarter. He bounced back with an efficient outing at Notre Dame, hitting 11-of-21 passes for 115 yards, including an 8-yard TD toss, despite being hobbled with a sprain of his good ankle that sidelined him part of the second half (he also ran for 28 yards on 4 carries, including a 23-yard scramble for USC's longest run of the year to that point). Against Oregon, he went 16-of-28 for 175 yards and 1 TD, but had an interception returned for a score. After starting USC's first 7 games, he didn't start at Washington, but played most of the second half and hit 4-of-7 passes for 37 yards. He played the fourth quarter against Stanford in relief of an injured Van Raaphorst and was 3-of-5 for 64 yards with a TD. He started at Oregon State, completing 18-of-28 passes for 228 yards and 2 TDs, and UCLA, hitting 14-of-34 passes for 258 yards and 2 scores, including an 80-yarder on USC's first play (but had 2 fourth-quarter interceptions). 1996: As a redshirt freshman reserve quarterback in 1996, Fox appeared briefly in 1 game (playing most of the fourth quarter against Oregon State, where he was 0-of-2 passing, with an interception). 1995: Fox redshirted as a freshman quarterback in 1995, his first year at USC. HIGH SCHOOL: He was selected to the 1994 Super Prep All-American, Blue Chip All-American, USA Today All-USA honorable mention, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Super Prep All-Farwest, Long Beach Press-Telegram All-State first team, Student Sports All-State second team, Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Riverside County first team and All-CIF Division IV first team as a senior at Centennial High in Corona (Calif.) He hit 128-of-220 passes (58.2%) for 1,754 yards, 17 TDs and just 3 interceptions in 1994 (he also ran 60 times for 305 yards, a 5.1 avg., and 3 scores). As a 1993 junior, he threw for 1,425 yards with 5 TDs and ran for 312 yards and 7 scores. A 3-year starter, he threw for 3,446 yards and 24 TDs in his career. PERSONAL: He's a gender studies major at USC. He enjoys water and snow skiing. His sports hero is Joe Montana. JOHN FOX ON: His 1997 season: "It was a season full of expectations. I didn't know what to expect when I won the job. I didn't know what to expect when I lost the job. It was full circle. It was tough at times...When I lost the job mid-season, I felt ashamed. I felt I let the team down. I should have played better...The ankle injury in the opener definitely affected my throwing mechanics all season. I shifted to throwing off my front foot, instead of pushing off my back foot and transferring my weight forward. But I couldn't do that. But I never considered taking a few weeks off. The worst thing is watching a game. Injuries are injuries. They're part of the game. You can play through them. But watching, that's real painful." Asking to be the scout team quarterback in 1996: "I wasn't seeing any reps in practice. I was just sitting there watching Brad Otton all day. I had to swallow my pride, which was hard as heck to do, and volunteer to be the scout team QB. I wasn't punishing myself. I just wanted to do anything to get better...It was fun. I got to play against the first-string defense. I could throw a bad ball and it was okay...It was kind of like getting thrown into the fire but you don't get burned. There was no pressure on me down there and instead of standing around I got to play every day. It gave me a chance to get work on getting better...I ran all the opponents' offense. By doing that, you learn to make decisions under pressure." Spending the summer of 1996 working at a construction job instead of working out for football: "I had planned on running and throwing in my spare time after work, but I felt too beat up at the end of each day and never got around to it...When I came back to USC in the fall, I hadn't thrown a ball in three months. I was horrible. I was definitely worse than when I first came to USC. I was slow, out of shape, didn't know the calls. The coaches were mad at me and I was mad at myself. I vowed never to do that again...I was so embarrassed and frustrated with myself. It was my own fault." His determination: "Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been a determined person. I can be very hard on myself sometimes. My mother taught me how to be strong and how to keep working...When I was in the seventh grade, I was a terrible football player and I decided to quit my Pee Wee team. But my mother wouldn't let me. She never let me quit anything I started." JOHN FOX CAREER STATISTICS
GAME-BY-GAME 1997 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
