TGS 2007 Football Preview Bonus: Washington Huskies

WASHINGTON - The long-spoiled Washington football diehards aren’t used to all the losing their Huskies have been doing the last few years. Indeed, it’s been four non-bowl seasons in a row, the longest UW postseason drought in over 30 years, or since the days when the old Pac-8 allowed only its champion to go bowling. So, perhaps to satisfy win-starved Husky Nation, the school will be retroactively honoring its 1960 Rose Bowl winners as that year’s national champions when USC visits Seattle September 29. For good measure, they’ll be wearing throwback uniforms to the Jim Owens Era that afternoon. But whether Ty Willingham’s (left) third edition bears any resemblance to the old glory days, or other U-Dub bowl squads from more recent memory, remains to be seen.

Much will depend on whether ballyhooed RS frosh QB Jake Locker (a local product from nearby Ferndale) is as good as advertised. Willingham resisted the temptation to use a year of Locker’s eligibility as a true frosh last fall despite a wave of injuries that decimated the Husky QB situation and derailed what looked to be a potential turnaround campaign (remember, U-Dub was sitting at 4-2 at midseason and looked a decent bet for a bowl berth when do-everything QB Isaiah Stanback went down for the count with a severe foot injury). But Locker was nonetheless listed as the starter on depth chart before taking a snap in spring practice, which qualifies as a radical move by the notoriously-conservative Willingham. Massive upside or not, his experience is still limited to scout team work last fall and running the single wing in high school, so o.c. Tim Lappano fast-forwarded Locker’s learning process in spring, often alllowing Jake to call his own plays. Beyond erratic sr. Carl Bonnell (who completed only 44% of his passes in relief LY), no UW QB enters the fall having taken a snap in a college game.

And Locker isn’t the only once-heralded recruit making a long-awaited debut in Seattle. RB J.R. Hasty, redshirted in ‘05 and sidetracked by academics last fall, is expected to take some carries from serviceable sr. Louis Rankin (team-best 666 YR in ‘06) and perhaps lend some pop to a long-dormant ground game that was again rather sluggish (only 3.8 ypc) LY. Meanwhile, sources say big, fast ex-juco WR Marcel Reece (24.3 yp catch in ‘06) could prove an even better downfield target than the graduated Sonny Shackelford. Three starters return from an OL that put in yeoman’s work last fall, when the same five interior linemen started every game.

Likewise, d.c. Kent Baer’s stop unit is going to have to rely on some new faces, especially in a 2ndary that was again too permissive in ‘06 and enters fall expecting several newcomers to provide depth and fill a couple of vacated positions. Watch juco CB Byron Davenport, a one-time UCLA recruit who should nail down a spot opposite sr. Roy Lewis. There is plenty of depth and experience on the DL, however, where four regulars return, yet the entire platoon must do a better job forcing TOs after stealing the ball a mere 14 times LY.

Summary...Although Willingham has proven no quick-fix artist in Seattle, his first two teams (and a bountiful ‘07 recruiting haul) have provided enough hints of progress to suggest his rebuilding job is at least on schedule. But a daunting early-season slate means new QB Locker is going to have to hit the ground running if the Huskies are serious about finally getting back into the bowl mix.

BET ON BASEBALL!! Use your knowledge of the game to win big money at the Bodog Sportsbook!

NCAA Football Related Articles

Return To Articles Archive