By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
WSU's quarterback tearing up stats, opponents in 2000
So far in the 2000 season, Arizona has faced a myriad of talented quarterbacks - Utah's Darnell Arceneaux, USC's Carson Palmer and Ohio State's Steve Bellisari, to name a few.
But perhaps one of the best signal-callers the Wildcats will play all season is a relative unknown - Washington State's Jason Gesser.
So far this season, the sophomore from Honolulu has a 147.52 quarterback rating, which is tops in the Pac-10 and is 10th in the nation. Palmer ranks second in the league with a 122.3 mark.
"There's a lot of returning quarterbacks in this league that people are knocking themselves out talking about," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "Yet, in passing efficiency, he leads by like a mile."
Those in football circles are quick to laud Gesser, a fleet-footed sophomore with a penchant for throwing the ball outside the pocket.
"He's very mobile and has great vision," California head coach Tom Holmoe said. "Where some of the other scramblers would be fleshed out of the pocket and just run, he looks to pass. That's the best thing that he does."
Gesser - along with current Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo - may be the proto-typical quarterbacks of the 21st Century.
"I feel that the athletes today can't have just one dimension," Gesser said. "With all the skills developing, you're going to have to have somebody that can maneuver around. Marques is a good example of that. If the pocket breaks down, he can scramble as well."
With an ability to scramble and throw the ball on the run, Gesser is redefining the quarterback position at Washington State - a school that has produced strong-armed but slower NFL quarterbacks Ryan Leaf and Drew Bledsoe.
But why, of all schools, Washington State? Gesser passed on scholarships to California and Kentucky, two quarterback-friendly systems.
"The offense they ran was favoring my needs," Gesser said. "The quarterbacks they produced into the NFL was a big factor. (The coaches and I) all got along so well - we've got that kind of connection."
Gesser joined the Cougars in Fall 1998 and used his redshirt year. Last season, a torn thumb ligament suffered against Arizona sidelined the sophomore for the middle six games of the season.
This year, Gesser will attempt to exact revenge on the Wildcats, a team that prevailed against WSU in 1999 courtesy of a last-second "Hail Mary" pass. This week's practices meant preparing for UA's trademark "double-flex eagle" defense.
The defense, which Arizona popularized in the early 1990s with their "Desert Swarm" scheme, confused Palmer in last week's game, leading to five sacks.
"Watching tape on it, I had a hard time breaking it down," Gesser said. "They have a lot of different schemes - lots of disguises. It's going to hard for me to go out there and read the defense."
Conversely, the Wildcats defense will try to stifle Gesser's talents when the two teams meet.
"He's a good quarterback - he scrambles a lot," freshman cornerback Michael Jolivette said. "Most quarterbacks, when they scramble, are going to run with it. He's more like a scramble-and-throw. We've got to stay on top of the receivers, even if he scrambles."
Tomey agreed.
"It's impossible to me more impressed with a young quarterback," he said.
Tomey has even gone so far as to compare Gesser to a former Wildcat great.
"He's probably a little taller Keith Smith - he has that kind of accuracy," Tomey said. "He's about 6-foot, and he's got tremendous athleticism."
Saturday's game will likely hinge on the Wildcats' ability to contain Gesser and the Cougars, a team that is hungry for a win during a rebuilding season.
"Every game, we need to win," Gesser said. "We've got to get this win. We approach every game like it's our last."
