Former UCLA quarterbacks are impressed by freshman Josh Rosen

The unofficial UCLA quarterback club might need to make room for a new member.

The group has remained close through the years, from Tom Ramsey through Cory Paus and beyond. Freshman Josh Rosen, it seems, has submitted his application.

The requirements?

“You’ve got to graduate and you have to have a beer with your elders,” said Matt Stevens, a UCLA quarterback from 1983-86. “Josh is not old enough yet.”

Maybe not old enough to join the gang, but he does seem ready to play quarterback for the Bruins after throwing for 351 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-16 victory over Virginia on Saturday.

“There is a lot that comes with playing quarterback at UCLA,” said David Norrie, a UCLA quarterback from 1982-85.

Rosen lived up to it in his first game.

“There are conference championships and Rose Bowls involved with all the guys who came before,” said former UCLA quarterback Wayne Cook (1991-94), now a broadcaster with the team. “Everyone has something to hang their hat on. Pat Cowan has the USC victory [in 2006]. Brett Hundley brought us back from the dead.”

And Rosen?

“I can’t remember a first-game first performance by an 18-year-old kid like that,” Cook said. “If you didn’t know who he was and tuned in to the game, you would have thought he was a junior or senior.”

Other ex-UCLA quarterbacks are also impressed with Rosen’s abilities as a freshman

Asked what he was doing his freshman year, former UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel (1980-83) said, “I was getting beat up by Kenny Easley and Billy Don Jackson and a host of other great Bruins players as the scout team quarterback. I learned quickly that ‘Virginia’ meant ‘safety blitz.’”

Others weren’t even on the practice field.

“We had [defensive back] Don Rogers roaming around,” said Stevens, now a UCLA broadcaster. “I didn’t even want to step on the field, I was so scared Rogers might hit me. I didn’t want to play until I was a redshirt sophomore and he was gone.”

Norrie, now a broadcaster with ESPN, joked, “When I signed, UCLA had Tom Ramsey, Jay Schroeder, Steve Bono and Rick Neuheisel. That was a really solid decision in terms of getting playing time, especially as a freshman.”

UCLA started only seniors at quarterback 1982-86 and won three Rose Bowls and a Fiesta Bowl.

“We’ve been close through the years,” Norrie said.

They have seen times change to the point where a freshman has the UCLA fan base — and ex-Bruins quarterbacks — a little star-struck.

“I thought Rosen had that inner calm from the first play,” said Neuheisel, a broadcaster with CBS. “He threw that deep ball on the first play and, with all with adrenaline pumping; it would be common to overthrow it. Not only didn’t he overthrow it, the pass was perfect.”

What Stevens saw was “an NFL-type throwing motion. He made throws moving forward and had pocket presence. I saw him setting up blockers in pass protection. That was surprising.”

And that could lead to a rule change for membership in UCLA’s unofficial quarterback club.

“Maybe all you need is to throw for 350 yards in a game,” Stevens joked.

New look

UCLA faces a Nevada Las Vegas team that has played one game under first-year Coach Tony Sanchez and his staff — a 38-30 loss to Northern Illinois. UCLA Coach Jim Mora said that is a challenge.

“You go back and look at things those coaches have done in the past at the places they have been,” Mora said.

Sanchez was the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High coach last season, but even those tapes have value.

“Every coach has a personality, a philosophy,” Mora said. “You see high school and you can see in the pros. You try to piece together things that might fit with their personnel.”

By the way, Sanchez’s Bishop Gorman defeated Rosen’s St. John Bosco last year, 34-31.

Goines update

Tackle Simon Goines was at practice Thursday, but he is unlikely to rejoin the team this season. Goines is being treated for an undisclosed medical condition that prevents him from doing strenuous workouts.

Goines missed last season because of leg injuries.

chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter: @cfosterlatimes