Bleacher Report - Washington Huskies Football

Washington Huskies 2010 Quarterback Outlook

Todd Williams — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:39:27 -0500

The 2009 season was the beginning of a new era for the Washington Huskies. Among the many things that head coach Steve Sarkisian brings to the table is a wealth of experience at the quarterback position.

Having been a quarterback at the college level himself, as well as his time spent coaching as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, Sarkisian possesses a unique perspective on the offensive system.

His résumé with offenses is impressive, having coached two Heisman-winning quarterbacks during his tenure at USC.

Despite taking over head coaching duties for the first time in his career, Sarkisian kept role of offensive coordinator at Washington. There is no surprise that Steve has paid special attention to his quarterback, in this case the immensely talented but underdeveloped Jake Locker.

Going into the 2009 season, Locker was considered a pro prospect because of his amazing athletic ability, but there were some doubts that he could perform the job of quarterback at the next level. If taking over a 0-12 program was not enough, Sarkisian and his staff also dived right in to develop Jake’s skills as a traditional drop-back passer.

Locker had a reputation as an incredible runner with a strong, but inaccurate, arm. All the physical tools to be a pro quarterback appeared to be there, but the previous coaching staff had focused on using his running ability rather than developing him as a passer. This, in a lot of people’s eyes, led to his injury that kept him out of the majority of the 2008 season.

It was going to be up to this coaching staff to develop his passing skills.

The early results were impressive. Instead of running at the first sign of a breakdown in the line, which happened quite a bit during the 2009 season, Locker began to use his legs to buy more time for his receivers to get open.

After his first three games, Locker was averaging an impressive 60 percent completion percentage with five touchdowns and only one interception. The 60 percent mark was a goal set by Sarkisian at the beginning of the year.

With that quick start and the upset over the USC Trojans, Jake’s NFL stock went sky high. Many of the draft experts started to put him in the top 10 and possibly the first quarterback to be drafted if he chose to go pro after this year. The idea of all that athletic ability, and the quick response to the coaching of Sarkisian, made NFL scouts drool over the potential of the young man.

The 10 games since then, while still showing improvement in terms of accuracy over previous years at 55 percent, has also shown how far along Jake has to go. Throwing 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions is part of it.

The larger part is the indecision Jake has shown when the pocket collapses, sooner rather than later as the year went on, on whether he should use his legs for the first down or try to buy more time to complete a pass.

Buying more time to complete the pass does sound like a good idea, but it has also led to Jake showing his inexperience in reading defenses and forcing in some throws.

The frustrating part for Husky fans watching these games is that Locker will have open field in front of him, the kind of open field that would have led to a 20-yard run in years past, and he will not take off, choosing to instead wait for a receiver to throw to.

It has been a constant challenge for both the coaching staff and Locker to find the right balance. On one hand you want to keep the quarterback from taking the big shots that come from running the ball, but on the other hand you want to use his athletic ability to win football games.

It is clear that Locker is taking the coaching to heart, and his mindset is much more of a quarterback now than it was prior to the new staff.

The question is whether he will stick around another year to develop that balance and keep improving his passing skills, or take the NFL payday and let NFL coaches have their turn at molding him.

Being the exceptional athlete that he is, Jake has twice been drafted in the MLB draft and decided to stick with Washington and football both times. That may lead some to believe he plans on playing his full four years, as money hasn’t swayed him to leave before, but the opportunity to stay with football as well as go pro may be too much to pass up.

Regardless of Jake’s decision at the end of this season, the quarterback job might be in better hands than one would suspect.

Granted, backup Ronnie Fouch’s original appearance led to an uninspiring 45 percent completion percentage with only four touchdowns to 13 interceptions, filling in for the injured Locker in 2008.

The thing to consider is Fouch is a traditional drop-back style passer, and taking over the offense that was run in 2008 was not a good fit at all. In addition to being a true freshman with limited options, Fouch was not put in a position to succeed. The fact that No. 1 back Chris Polk was also out did not help take the pressure off of Ronnie.

The current offense Washington runs is much more to his style, and with a year to sit, watch, and learn from his coaches, there is optimism that the drop-off might not be as severe as speculated if Jake chooses to go pro.

Behind Fouch are two relative unknowns in Keith Price, who was a three-star recruit in the 2008 class, and Taylor Bean, who walked on the team during the 2007 season. Bolstering that depth, however, is a commitment from a player whose last name you might have heard once or twice: Montana.

Nick, the youngest son of Joe, is a four-star recruit and the headliner for Sarkisian’s 2010 class. A traditional drop-back passer, Montana looks to be an excellent fit for Sarkisian’s pro-style offense.

The starting job in 2010 is Jake Locker’s if he decides to return for his senior season. If he does decide to go pro, don’t expect Sarkisian to throw Montana out there as a true freshman. All signs are indicating that Sarkisian has faith in Fouch’s ability to run his offense, and that he will give Ronnie the chance to erase the painful memories from 2008 and craft a more positive legacy for himself.

Although most Washington fans feel Locker would benefit from another year at the college level, even if he goes to the NFL, the future at quarterback for Washington appears to be bright.

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Chris Polk Carrying Washington's Tailback Legacy into 2010

Todd Williams — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:24:20 -0500

With all the hype surrounding Jake Locker since his arrival at Montlake, it is easy to forget the production of redshirt freshman Chris Polk.

Polk, who is trying to become Washington’s second 1,000-yard rusher in the last decade, has been a steady performer and a bright spot for this 2009 team.

After starting his career with a rough game against Oregon, Polk was promptly injured in his second career game and forced to sit the rest of the season. While it was a tough period for Polk, who had never been seriously injured before, it took him away from a team that ended up finishing the year winless.

Helplessly sitting on the sidelines while his teammates struggled on the field and were divided in the locker room, Polk wondered if he was really meant to play football.

In a stroke of good luck Polk was granted a medical redshirt year and was able to begin 2009 with four years of eligibility remaining, a new coaching staff, and a new lease on life. It did not turn out to be a brand-new coaching staff for Polk, however, as Steve Sarkisian had recruited him while coaching at Southern California.

That comfort level, along with being healthy once again, gave Polk renewed motivation to return to the field and continue being the game-changing running back he has always been capable of being.

A game-changing back is something the Huskies have been missing for some time. In the last decade Washington has produced only one 1,000-yard rusher, Louis Rankin, who also had the benefit of Jake Locker running a simple strategy—see if my wideout is open; if not, RUN—that netted Locker nearly 1,000 yards on the year himself.

Despite not having the benefit of a productive second leading rusher, Polk has put up impressive numbers and still has the ability to reach the 1,000-yard mark this season. A quick look at the stats from Rankin’s 2007 season and Polk’s 2009 season thus far shows a similarity in production, despite the difference in offensive styles.

In 2007, through 10 games Rankin had 853 yards at five yards per carry. The statistic that jumps out at you is the four games where he produced less than 50 yards on the ground. A good chunk of yards was contributed in the first game, where he had 147 yards, and the ninth game, where he produced 255 yards on the ground.

Compare that to Polk, who has had the benefit of being the man when it comes to running the ball and has managed 889 yards so far at an identical five yards per rush. While Polk has never had a game with 36 rushing attempts like Rankin, he has been far more consistent in his production, with only two games either at or below the 50-yard mark.

Despite the lack of another rushing threat this year, Polk has only managed 11 more carries and has been just as productive as Rankin was. Rankin was able to make it over the 1,000-yard mark in 12 games, but he did play a 13-game season, which added to his final numbers.

If Polk’s production is consistent in the last two games, he should reach the 1,000-yard mark with a projected 1,067 yards on 215 carries.

Another factor to consider in his quest for 1,000 is the game against WSU, where he could see a large number of carries—probably not anything like Rankin’s 36-carry effort, but in the high 20s is reasonable to expect.

The difference in offensive philosophy has both benefited and hurt Polk somewhat. While he is getting the bulk of the carries, he is the only threat rushing the ball this year. While Locker has the speed and talent to be a 1,000-yard rusher at the quarterback position, Sarkisian and his staff feel is it more important to improve Jake’s skill as a drop-back passer.

It has been a consistent struggle for both the coaching staff and Locker to find the right balance, and as we have progressed into the year, Jake has become more and more hesitant to run, instead using his speed to try to extend a play for his wideouts to get open. That has led to Polk facing defenses that know he is going to be running at them, and he is still producing anyway.

Chris has shown a lot of flashes that he has the ability to be a big-time playmaker for Washington at the tailback position. With his first year here being a wash, this has been an impressive freshman season for Polk. Expect him to improve even more going into next year, and Husky fans should enjoy his physical running style for at least two more years.

When the offensive line develops and gets depth, this special back we are watching could put up one monster of a season that awakens the echoes of Napoleon Kaufman, Corey Dillon, and other great Washington tailbacks of the past.

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Washington Huskies: Can Nick Holt Bring Back the Purple Reign Defense?

Todd Williams — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:35:14 -0500

For a program which made a name for itself with a stifling defense, Washington has become a team that opposing offenses love to face. It has been the biggest frustration during this down period for the Washington Huskies; watching their defense struggle so much.

Going into 2009, Washington spent a lot of money to lure away defensive coordinator Nick Holt from the USC Trojans. An intense guy, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, seemed to be exactly what the Washington defense needed to reclaim its glory.

Has he really made a difference for Huskies though?

Obviously, it is too early to be making any sort of final judgment on him as a coordinator. It is interesting to look and see how his unit has fared when compared to recent Husky teams.

Comparing to 2008 is pointless, considering that was a team that flat gave up on their coaching staff, so 2007 is a more apt comparison when looking for any sort of improvement.

Before looking at the numbers, it is also important to consider how USC has done this year without him. It is no secret that Pete Carroll is a defensive guy, and in theory is really the defensive coordinator for that squad.

There have been losses to leaders on defense, especially in the line backing crew for USC, but even that considered they have twice given up more points than had previously been done during Carroll’s reign in L.A.

That isn’t to say the drop off is a direct result of losing Holt, but there can be an argument that perhaps Carroll was leaning on Holt more than people thought, while he managed the overall program.

I have no doubt Carroll was and still is the most important part of their Defense, but Holt might have deserved a little more respect than he got from a lot of USC fans.

With all that said, the numbers are not pretty when it comes to looking for improvement from 2007 to 2009. Through 10 games the 2007 squad gave up 441 yards per game, and had 37 touchdowns scored against them.

When compared to this year through 10 games, which has yielded 421 yards per game, and given up 35 touchdowns.

For all his passion and intensity, it appears that Holt’s defensive is eerily similar to the Washington defense of 2007. Both ranking in the 100’s for overall defensive in Division 1 football.

Stats don’t always tell the whole story. Going into this game there was a six touchdown differential between the two teams, and a blow out in Corvallis today evened up the numbers a bit.

What Holt has done with this defensive is an extreme bend but not absolutely bust style, which has kept most of the games within reach. Untimely turnovers and short fields have greatly affected the performance of the defense, and the unit played stronger at the beginning of the year.

What does that mean? It could mean a lot of things. Holt could be having trouble adjusting his schemes to the personnel on the field, as in he doesn’t have near the athletes he had at USC to attack with, and the defense is noticeably softer.

The question is should he be able to do more, or is it just a matter of young players and lack of depth?

That question will be answered when he has more time to get his players into the squad, and build a little bit of depth. At this point it doesn’t seem like any coordinator has been able to get a stellar performance out of that defense lately, but the fact that they have been keeping the team within striking distance for most games is a sign of improvement.

As highly paid as he is, we should see a larger improvement next year. It is hard to expect anyone to turn around a defense that has been as porous as Washington’s has the last several years.

I’m not willing to throw him under the bus for this year, as the offense, while not terrible in terms of yardage, does struggle mightily in the red zone.

This team has been in position to win games, and have simply not finished. That is the difference between a 6-4 team and the 3-7 team UW is.

Holt has not lit the world on fire as D-Coordinator, but like Sarkisian he deserves a second year to adjust and get his guys in there. It hasn’t been pretty watching the growing pains for Huskies fans, but there has been improvement.

A program does not go from five losing seasons in a row to a perennial bowl team in one year’s time. We all want to see the purple reign defense return, and while Holt hasn’t shown he is bringing it back, he hasn’t proven that he can’t do it yet either.

It is hard to hear after five years of being sub par, but we need to have patience with this coaching staff. Just not as much patience as was given to Willingham.

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Washington-Oregon State: Last Chance For The Dawgs

Pete Treperinas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:41:58 -0500

Still yet to win a game on the road, and riding a three-game losing streak, the Washington Huskies will head in to Corvallis in an absolute must-win situation.

Let's face it—for the majority of the season, the Huskies haven't played like a team that should be going to a bowl game. However, they've played like a team that's close to crossing the threshold.

A handful of close losses have put a damper on the season that early on seemed like a Cinderella story.

Oregon State is no slouch. This team is talented, especially when it comes to offense. OSU is No. 23 in the country, and is fresh off a 20-point win over a good Cal team.

Looking at the numbers, Jake Locker and OSU quarterback Sean Canfield actually have pretty similar stats this year. It should make for an interesting game at that position.

What it will likely come down to for Washington is their ability to stop OSU running back Jaquizz Rodgers who is one of the best backs the Pac-10 has to offer. He's scored at least one rushing touchdown in all but one game this year, and let's not forget about his brother, James, who is also a running back.

Last year at Husky Stadium the Rodgers brothers lit up the Dawgs D for over 200 yards and three touchdowns. Needless to say, look out for these guys.

In response to the Rodgers', Washington will need a big effort from Chris Polk. Polk has been somewhat consistent through the season when it comes to racking up yards, but he's only found the end-zone three times all year.

Locker will need to shine as well, that's a given. But the interception to end the UCLA game needs to be thrown out, along with the 3-6 record and everything that's happened prior to this game.

I think if the Huskies can just focus on the task at hand, forget about the fact that they're 13-point underdogs, and know that the season is on the line, they might be able to give OSU a run.

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