USC Hopes Gossen Isn’t Home to Roost

Were it not for his good friend, USC flanker Gary Wellman, quarterback Brad Gossen of Washington State might not be in the Coliseum tonight, trying to knock the Trojans out of the Rose Bowl race.

Five years ago, then-Washington State Coach Jim Walden dispatched an assistant, Jon Fabris, to Westlake High School in Westlake Village, asking him to take a look at Wellman.

Fabris liked what he saw but realized the Cougars stood little chance of landing the highly regarded Wellman.

But maybe, he told Walden, they could attract Gossen, a virtually unknown left-hander who was Westlake’s quarterback.

Walden watched Gossen on tape and was taken as much by Gossen’s composure as his ability, which he thought was considerable.

“He had a calm about him,” said Walden, who is now at Iowa State. “He seemed very unflappable. I watched him as a high school kid, and he seemed so polished, so mature. He stood there with that left arm cocked, looking downfield.

“I can distinctly remember thinking, ‘Wow, this guy is oblivious.’ You talk about a guy who knows how to stand in there and fire that pin.”

Gossen threw well enough last year to accumulate a passing efficiency rating of 174.19, which didn’t lead the Pacific 10 Conference only because he didn’t play in 75% of the Cougars’ games.

After completing 66.7% of his passes and throwing for six touchdowns in Washington State’s first 2 1/2 games, Gossen tore ligaments in his left thumb after banging it on the helmet of an Oregon State player on a follow-through.

He missed five games but ended the season by completing 64.2% of 137 passes with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.

“Brad Gossen next fall will be the best senior quarterback in the nation,” Coach Mike Price said last spring. “He will lead the nation in passing efficiency and will be the top graduating quarterback.”

Gossen started strongly again this season. He led the Pac-10 in passing efficiency until faltering last Saturday night, when he completed 11 of 25 passes for 96 yards in a 30-20 loss to UCLA.

In the second half, as the Cougars squandered a 20-10 lead, Gossen completed only three of nine passes for 20 yards. He also threw a fourth-quarter interception, his first in 105 attempts, leading to UCLA’s final touchdown.

Afterward, Gossen said he was “embarrassed” and vowed that the explosive Cougar offense, which produced only one touchdown, would never again score so few points in a televised game.

“We just didn’t execute our offense, and UCLA played well. . . . ,” said Gossen, who this season has completed 60.3% of 146 passes for 1,038 yards and six touchdowns.

“We had some mix-ups on routes, and I threw a couple bad passes, had a couple drops. Everybody had a little to do with it.”

Still, Gossen is eager to make his Coliseum debut.

“I’ve been looking forward to it for four years--coming back my senior year and playing against USC,” he said. “I didn’t get to play against them last year and it hurt. It was really tough for me.”

Not so eager is USC Coach Larry Smith, who called Gossen against USC’s pass defense “probably the biggest mismatch of the whole game.”