Posted on: Thursday, December 26, 2002

Losman's slip of lip inspired teammates

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

When Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman popped off last week about the need to "smash Hawai'i in the mouth" he was afraid he'd also put a size-11 foot in his own mouth and fired up the University of Hawai'i.

Turns out, it was his own team that most took it to heart.

"I thought I slipped up because it just kind of came out, but a lot of our guys thanked me for saying it," Losman said after guiding the Green Wave to a 36-28 ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl victory last night.

"They thought I showed a lot of confidence in them by saying it," Losman said. "They told me they were glad I said it."

Losman, who completed 20 of 39 passes for 240 yards and ran for two touchdowns, "showed us he was behind us," said running back Mewelde Moore.

"We wanted to back him up for it. We wanted to show he was right," Moore said.

Said defensive lineman Marlon Tickles: "That's the thing about our team, we're there for each other all the time."

That Losman was here for the Green Wave took a curious turn of events.

He finished high school early at Venice (Calif.) High and enrolled at UCLA in what would have been the spring of his 12th grade year.

But after sizing up the abundant depth the Bruins had at the position, he transferred before the rest of the freshmen came in and eventually found his way to Tulane.

Yesterday, with UCLA on television in the Las Vegas Bowl that preceded the UH-Tulane game, Losman admitted to occasional reflective glances.

"Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I had stayed there," Losman said. "It is only natural and I'm only human. That was the uniform I thought about wearing for a long time. But everything has turned out great for me here (at Tulane)."