Losman’s Bear of a Day Leaves Many Feeling Blue

If J.P. Losman had stuck around Westwood, he might have had a good chance to play Saturday with the way UCLA quarterbacks were dropping against Stanford.

And had the former Venice High standout stayed--instead of transferring to Tulane in 1999--this is what he might have said after the Bruins’ 38-28 loss to the Cardinal:

“It was one of the worst games I’ve ever been involved in. It was so close and everyone tried so hard, but we just came up a little bit short.”

That would have summed up the frustration of a team that let a chance to control its national championship destiny slip through its fingers.

Losman actually did say those things Saturday, but they were in reference to Tulane’s 42-35 loss to Army, some 3,000 miles away in West Point, N.Y.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound sophomore started in place of Patrick Ramsey, Tulane’s all-time leader in yards passing who suffered a laceration on his throwing hand during last week’s 34-27 loss to Alabama Birmingham.

Losman, who graduated early from Venice to enroll at UCLA only to leave before beginning his first fall camp, also was listed as questionable heading into the game because of a sprained left knee.

Despite throwing only 10 passes all season before Saturday, Losman finished the game 25 of 39 for 384 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 32 and 40 yards to Mewelde Moore and a 25-yarder to Terrell Harris. Losman and Moore also ran for scores.

Sounds like Losman would have been a fine option for UCLA on this day.

Scobey Snacking

Kansas State hadn’t felt this way in 12 years.

Four consecutive losses, all in Big 12 Conference games, had the Wildcats shell-shocked after they started 3-0 and there had been scattered talk of national title hopes for some brief moments.

And you thought Coach Bill Snyder was a sourpuss when they were winning.

Putting a temporary smile on Snyder’s face was running back Josh Scobey, who many considered a key to Kansas State’s success.

After gaining 45 yards on the first play from scrimmage in a 40-6 win against Kansas, Scobey knew it was his day.

“When you have a 45-yard run right off the bat, that tells me what kind of day I’m going to have,” Scobey said. “Some of those holes, I could have driven my truck through.”

By the time Scobey was finished, he had run for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

“Josh was very good,” assistant coach Michael Smith said. “When Josh has his shoulders going downhill, he’s as good as any back. He’s not a shifty guy. He’s going to put his pads down and get what he can get.”

Scobey, a 205-pound senior, carried 28 times in the fourth-best rushing effort in school history. A mixture of straight-ahead runs, wide sweeps and well timed pitch plays led to Kansas State’s best rushing total since Mike Lawrence set the school record with 252 yards against Iowa State in 1996.

“I think the coaches saw that I was in the groove,” Scobey said. “They wanted us to establish the running game.”

Gator Gripped

Brothers Reid and Ryan Fleming grew up in the orange and blue embrace of a die-hard Florida Gator family.

And with that kind of upbringing, it made it all the more strange when older brother Ryan chose to play football at Georgia, a definite violation of etiquette for a Florida supporter in those parts.

Not that Ryan had much of a choice since Florida never offered him a scholarship--something Reid was able to earn two years later.

The two brothers squared off for the final time Saturday (Ryan is a senior and Reid a sophomore) during Florida’s 24-10 victory.

Their father, Robert, who has had Florida season tickets for about 50 years, said it never has been difficult knowing who to pull for in this matchup.

“Everyone asks me, ‘Who are you pulling for, who are you pulling for?”’ Robert said. “I tell them I’m totally impartial. I’m pulling for my sons.”

Grand Passion

Wisconsin has fast become Tailback U of the Midwest and nothing has changed that notion this season.

After the Badgers’ Anthony Davis--rather appropriate for a school with a rushing reputation, don’t you think?--ran for 101 yards in a 42-28 loss to Michigan State on Saturday, it gave Wisconsin a 1,000-yard rusher for the ninth consecutive season.

OK, so Ron Dayne accounts for four of those seasons, from 1996-99. In fact, Dayne rushed for more than 2,000 yards in two of those seasons.

Still, the Badgers continue to churn out the runners.

Those, other than Dayne, contributing to the list are Michael Bennett (1,681) from last season, Carl McCullough (1,038) in 1995, Terrell Fletcher (1,476) in ’94 and Brent Moss (1,637) in ’93.

All except for McCullough are either now, or were, in the NFL at some point.

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Compiled by Jim Barrero