COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : USC : Price Unconcerned About Bledsoe’s Play

Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who will lead the unbeaten Cougars against USC on Saturday at the Coliseum, completed only nine of 25 passes for 108 yards and had two passes intercepted during a 30-17 victory over UCLA last Saturday.

But Cougar Coach Mike Price is not concerned.

“I have complete, 100% confidence that he’ll come back and have a tremendous game,” Price said of Bledsoe, a junior who has been projected as a possible No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next spring. “Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Our master plan worked: Have the receivers drop four or five passes, he doesn’t look very good on TV, Mel Kiper (ESPN’s NFL draft analyst) gets off his (butt) and we get him for another year.”

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Price, on the success of his kicker, Aaron Price, who is his son: “I think basically it’s good bloodlines. If you ever saw my wife, you’d know why I married her: She’s got great legs. And she passed that trait right on to her son. He’s got great legs, too.”

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USC’s Jon McGee, who was on the practice field when his left arm was pierced by a stray bullet last month, is no longer wearing a sling and is expected to return to practice in two weeks. The freshman linebacker is no longer experiencing numbness in his left hand, but said his arm still feels weak.