PLAYING CATCHUP : USC’s Wide Receivers, Once Window Dressing, Latch On to Some Action Again

USC’s Gary Wellman is listed as a wide receiver on the roster. But for the first two games, he had a better chance of catching a cold than a pass.

Wellman and split end John Jackson were virtually ignored in what passed as USC’s passing game. Fullback Leroy Holt, of all people, was the leading receiver.

“I don’t know if John and I were complaining, or getting a little excited, but we weren’t throwing the ball that much and the wide receivers weren’t getting any passes,” Wellman said. “We were worried and started speaking up a little bit.”

Somebody apparently heard them because Wellman and Jackson were re-discovered in the 42-3 rout of Ohio State last Saturday.

Wellman caught three passes for 74 yards, including touchdown catches of 19 and 17 yards. Jackson caught two for 108 yards, one on a school record 87-yard scoring play.

Wellman and Jackson weren’t left out of the passing scheme by design in the earlier games. Coach Larry Smith said that quarterback Todd Marinovich, a redshirt freshman, had been “dunking and dinking” in the first two games.

In other words, the inexperienced Marinovich was throwing safe, dump-off passes instead of looking downfield for his wide receivers.

Wellman knew that the team would have to get adjusted to Marinovich after playing with Rodney Peete for four years. He just didn’t realize the extent of it.

“In the first game (a 14-13 loss to Illinois), everyone was in shock, getting in the huddle and not having Rodney there, taking control, scrambling and making things happen,” Wellman said.

“Then, Todd was thrown in there and he wasn’t ready for it and neither was the team. Bam, we’re on the field and the crowd is screaming and yelling and we’re all looking at Todd and waiting for the play. And he’s kind of fumbling with it a little bit, calling the cadence and it just wasn’t the same.”

Wellman reasoned that perhaps the team was unsettled when Pat O’Hara, designated as Peete’s replacement, went down with a season-ending knee injury nine days before the opening game.

“Mentally, we were ready to play against Illinois, but when we got on the field, everything seemed to fall apart and change,” Wellman said.

Marinovich’s performance against Ohio State--he completed 14 of 22 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns--not only bolstered the young’s quarterback’s confidence, but the team’s as well.

Wellman was impressed that Marinovich stayed in the passing pocket against Ohio State even though the Buckeyes were blitzing at times.

So the Trojans appear now to be a balanced team, running and passing, going into their Pacific 10 Conference opener Saturday against Washington State in Pullman.

At 5-feet-9 and 175 pounds, Wellman is a small target, but an extremely swift one. An outstanding sprinter at Westlake High School, he said he has been timed in 4.35 seconds for the football 40-yard dash. Wellman holds the Marmonte League record at 10.4 seconds for 100 meters and was fifth in the state meet as a junior.

He isn’t concerned that he’s relatively short for a wide receiver.

“I’d love to be 6 feet tall, but I’m not,” he said. “It doesn’t affect me that much on the field. . . . “Look at the receivers with the Detroit Lions. Of the six receivers that are in a game, their average height is 5-9. That’s encouraging to me.”

Wellman, a junior, once was a sprinter on the USC track team but, even though he enjoys competing, he said it’s too time consuming, considering his commitment to football and his studies as a public administration major.

He lives in an off-campus apartment with offensive linemen Brad Leggett and Brent Parkinson and defensive tackle Tim Ryan.

Wellman will get an opportunity to visit with his former Westlake High teammate, quarterback Brad Gossen, when USC plays Washington State. Gossen, however, won’t play. A thumb injury will keep him inactive for a few more weeks.

“I talked to him on the phone and he was disappointed,” Wellman said. “He was really shocked that it happened. He finally got a chance to play and was doing very well for the first few games.”

As for his own team, Wellman said: “The Illinois game made us realize that we weren’t as good as we thought we would be. We had some big heads going into that game. Everyone was confident, even a little cocky. That made us realize that we can get beat at any time if we aren’t ready to play.”