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Star-Bulletin Sports


Tuesday, October 10, 2000



Associated Press
Former St. Louis School quarterback Jason Gesser scrambles
in for a touchdown against Boise State last Saturday during
Washington State's 42-35 non-conference victory.



Dialing “1-800-Gesser’
is answer for Cougars


Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser is an amazing scrambler, even when his senses are slightly scrambled.

Gesser suffered a mild concussion in Saturday's victory over Boise State, but still led the Cougars to the winning touchdown in the final minutes.

"He got banged around pretty good," coach Mike Price said. "We've got to treat him a little better than that."

Yes they do, because the sophomore is a major reason the Cougars are 3-1 in their past four games.

Gesser, a former St. Louis School quarterback, is putting up passing numbers not seen since Ryan Leaf wore the crimson and gray from 1994-97. In the past four games, the WSU offense is averaging 400 yards and 33 points per contest. Gesser has thrown nine touchdown passes and has not been intercepted in his past 103 passes.

During one touchdown run against Idaho, he seemed to leap from the 5 and sail 15 feet through the air before crashing into the end zone, earning the nickname "The Flyin' Hawaiian."

His quarterback rating the past four games is a sky-high 170.

Even more impressive, much of that production has come while Gesser was on a dead sprint out of the pocket with defenders in pursuit.

"There are some plays that we call 'Dial 1-800 Gesser,' " Price said.

All this comes at a price. The skinny sophomore -- listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds -- runs sideline to sideline so much he may be completing a marathon by the end of each game.

He was officially sacked four times by Boise State, but was flattened much more often after releasing a pass.

The concussion came in the third quarter, when Gesser was blasted by Shawn Sandoval of Boise State on a blitz and was barely able to wobble off the field.

"They (trainers) gave me seven numbers and they said 'repeat it all backwards,' " Gesser said. "I'm going, 'are you kidding? How am I going to remember that backwards?'

"They gave me some tests. I got most of them right."

Gesser missed just a handful of plays, and came back to lead the Cougars to the 42-35 victory, completing 21 of 30 passes for 290 yards.

"He will kill himself if that's what it takes for us to win," said receiver Collin Henderson.

Gesser expects blitzes as a fact of life for a team that is vulnerable to those tactics.

"We got to expect it from now on," Gesser said. "It's no secret. Everybody's gonna blitz us."

Boise State coach Kirk Koetter learned that focusing on Gesser is no guarantee of success.

"Obviously every team that plays him is going to want to contain him, but saying it and doing it are two different things," Koetter said. "He was fabulous."

This is the first time since 1998 that Washington State (3-2) has a winning record after five games. But things are about to get a lot tougher. Four of the remaining six opponents are Top 25 teams, starting with No. 22 Arizona on Saturday.



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