Toy Story super fan JoQuavious ‘Woody’ Marks finds perfect fit at USC

Ryan Kartje April 11, 2024

Tameka Marks just wanted to buy her youngest son a Halloween costume. She had no idea, at the time, what she was committing to.

All she knew was that JoQuavious, who was in preschool,

then,

loved Toy Story.

EspeciallyAnd

Woody

,

the toy cowboy leading man.

especially.

So she bought him a Woody costume with

that a

signature hat, cowhide vest and boots and nearly two decades later, as JoQuavious settles in as the new leading man in USCs backfield, its still a part of him.

Thats because as soon as young JoQuavious put on that costume, he never wanted to take it off. All these years later, they still call him Woody because of it.

He wanted to wear it every day to school, Tameka said. Every. Day.

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It wasnt just the costume. Tameka bought him Toy Story-themed clothes. The Toy Story movies were played on repeat in the Marks household, to the point that multiple DVDs

broke and wereDVDs had been broken and

replaced.

Even as JoQuavious went to kindergarten and stopped demanding to wear the costume to school, the movies were still a fixture.

I watched it all day, every day on the weekends, JoQuavious said. His mom, as one might imagine, got very sick of it.

Eventually, the obsession waned. But the nickname stuck. By high school, it was how most people knew him.

Others tended to mispronounce his actual first name. At one high school football game, Tameka marched up to the press box when she heard it mispronounced over the loudspeaker. She told the announcer to just call him Woody from then on.

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Hed hear his name called plenty during

over

four years at Mississippi State, emerging as the go-to back early on in Mike Leachs Air Raid offense, even if Leach also struggled to pronounce his

backs

first name. Marks led Mississippi State in rushing

duringin

three of his four years in Starkville, while also catching

a combined

214 passes, a career total that far exceeds any receiver currently on USCs roster.

It was the sort of his resume he once hoped would result in him being drafted this April. But a hamstring injury he suffered in October lingered through the end of the season, sapping him of his effectiveness. He forced himself to return for the final two games, but he wasnt the same.

After the season was over with, it was nothing but the NFL, Tameka

Marks

said. But he was still nursing his hamstring, and the closer it got, it just wasnt there, where he wanted it to be. He didnt want to go out there and run a 4.5 or a 4.6. He didnt want to reinjure it, and he didnt want his draft stock to go down. He had the extra year, though, so it was like, lets just go with that extra year, nurse that hamstring and make that last year your best year.

USC wasnt initially on the familys radar. But Lincoln Riley made a point to reach out early on, and his history in the Leach coaching tree intrigued Tameka. So she and her oldest son, Dontavious, did a deep dive into Rileys offense. They particularly liked that it was a more balanced version of the Air Raid, one that would allow Marks to show more of his chops as a runner.

We thought when you turned the tape on, that he was the best [running back in the portal,] Riley said. We thought he was incredibly productive, he caught the ball well, he was a really physically tough runner, which we wanted to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more physical in the backfield and Woody showed that on tape. The other thing is his career, you look at his numbers, it doesnt quite tell the whole story because hes battled a lot of injuries. He hasnt really been able to stay healthy and you kind of look like, ‘Man, if this guy can improve and can stay healthy, what can he really be?’

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When Marks and his family sat down with Riley for his official visit, the coach pitched him on a role in USCs offense similar to what hed cooked up for Joe Mixon at Oklahoma. It was a compelling case for the Marks family, who proceeded to devour Mixon tape from his time under Rileys tutelage.

There was also still the matter of his injured hamstring. At the time, he was still

doing rehabilitation workrehabbing

in Atlanta, near his familys home. But USC sold the family on its strength and conditioning program under Bennie Wylie.

It was enough to ease any concerns and convince Marks to commit.

I couldnt move the way I wanted to when I got there, Marks said. I wasnt feeling like who I was. But I think Coach Wylie has put me in a great spot.

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Now, as his first spring practice

s

at USC

windwinds

down, Marks is feeling like himself again. Assuming that continues, the expectation is hell become the third

consecutivestraight

transfer to enter the fall as USCs lead back, while sophomores Quinten Joyner and AMarion Peterson factor in as change-of-pace options.

Until then, he plans to take advantage of all that his new home has to offer. Jet skiing in the ocean. Laying by the beach. This weekend, hes even considering

a visitan homage

to Disneyland, where his namesake awaits on the Midway.

Just dont get Marks started on the next Toy Story movie, which is slated

to be released infor

2026.

I heard Wody wasnt going to be in it, he said. So Im not sure Im gonna be a fan.