Category Archives: Huskies Football

Posts dealing with Huskies football

by Andrew Long | March 5, 2010 · 7:45 pm

Husky Position Overviews – Fullback

This is one spot where the Huskies have to replace their starter. Paul Homer had a great four years at Washington and he will be missed. I will also miss Matthew saying “He’ll take you Homer” anytime the guy touched the ball. The Dawgs do have some young talent at fullback.

Austin Sylvester, 6-1, 241, SR: Sylvester has played on special teams for the last two years. He won’t do anything flashy but that’s hardly what the fullback position is for anyway. Sylvester is a solid blocker and could be a good contributor to the Huskies run game because of that. As far as potential goes, Sylvester’s ceiling is not very high. You basically know what you have in him and while he will improve, he might not have the skill that the other fullback’s possess. I put him first on this depth chart because he’s older but I think he might get passed up before September.

What Sylvester needs to improve on this spring: Sylvester needs to improve his play making. In Sark’s pro-style offense the fullback is used out of the backfield more than the typical fullback. If Sylvester wants to be the starter he needs to be able to catch the dump off pass and turn it into a positive play.

Kimo Makaula, 6-2, 248, RS FR: As far as the coolest Husky name goes, Kimo is right up there. Makaula red-shirted last year and was one of Sark’s first recruits. He is very strong and is supposed to be quite athletic. He might fit the mold of fullback better than Sylvester does but lacks the experience.

What Makaula needs to improve on this spring: Makaula needs to make sure that he’s got the offense down and is comfortable with it. As far as physical skills go he has the edge on Sylvester but he doesn’t have the same amount of experience, he needs to make up for that this spring and show that he’s comfortable with his job. He’s a good young player who will only improve. He has a good deal of potential and needs to maximize that.

Position Overview: This is one of the few positions in the Husky offense that is up for grabs. When it comes down to it I think Sylvester and Makaula will split time this year. They each need to have a solid spring and show an understanding of the offense since neither have seen significant time in games. Zach Fogerson will be here in the fall, so he won’t be practicing with the team during spring practices. He is a very highly rated fullback and will be a good contributor for the Huskies for years to come.

http://www.uwdawgpound.com/ has also been doing position overviews as of late. They are quite a bit different from mine and very good. Check them out. As always, thanks for reading!

Andrew

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Tagged as Austin Sylvester, Huskies fullback, Kimo Makaula, Zach Fogerson

by Andrew Long | March 3, 2010 · 6:31 pm

Huskies Position Overviews – Running Back

Chris Polk, 5-11, 210, RS Soph.- Polk had a fantastic year in 2009. He set the Husky freshman record for rushing yards with 1,113. This is no small feat considering UW’s young and under-developed offensive line last year. Polk was a tough runner all year and fought for every single yard he got. Polk may not have breakaway speed but before he’s done at Montlake I think he’ll be one of the best running backs ever to put on the Husky uniform. He played most of last year hurt with a shoulder injury and also suffered an injury his first season. This is one of the few flaws people can find in his game.

What Polk needs to improve on this spring: Polk can’t improve anything because he won’t be practicing (in the last report I’ve heard anyway). He had off-season shoulder surgery for the injury he suffered this season and will still be in rehab through the Spring. Polk will be back in time for Fall camp at full strength.

Johri Fogerson, 6–1, 200, Jr.- Fogerson was a very good receiver out of the backfield last year. His screen-pass reception on the first drive against LSU was a thing of beauty. About midseason Fogerson got sick and this really took away from his playing time. By the end of the year he wasn’t much of a factor.

What Fogerson needs to improve on this spring: The simple answer is his running ability. Obviously the coaches didn’t feel that comfortable with Johri running the ball last year, only inserting him on passing downs. If Fogerson can become a viable threat on the ground he could become a very good player for the Huskies. I sometimes wonder if Johri should have stayed at safety, where he was his true freshman year, but he may develop into a very good running back.

Demitrius Bronson, 5-10, 206, Soph: Bronson got some carries last year. He became the backup when Fogerson became ill. From what I’ve seen Bronson is similar to Polk. He runs hard and right into people. Last year he had a little trouble holding onto the ball.

What Bronson needs to improve on this spring: Bronson is a good running back. He came in last spring and impressed the coaches but he’s not going anywhere unless he stops fumbling. Demitrius needs lots of carries this spring and needs to get knocked around a little, this will help him improve in protecting the football. Bronson is a very capable backup that I think will progress in the spring.

Curtis Shaw, 5-10, 186, JR: Shaw has had an interesting career. Two years ago he left the team to deal with some family issues and last year he cam back only to play sparingly. He is a speedster who just never broke into the rotation last year because Polk played so well. From the times I’ve seen Shaw in practice he looks to be a very exciting player. He lacks the grind it out mentality that Polk and Bronson have but has the potential to break a big run every time he carries it.

What Shaw needs to improve on this spring: This spring is very important for Shaw. If he doesn’t play well he could be left in the back of the rotation and may transfer. I like what Shaw brings to the Husky offense but he needs to become more consistent if he wants to play. He’s also had trouble holding on to the ball in his playing time, carries this spring will help that.

Deontae Cooper, 6-0, 191, FR: This will be our first look at Cooper. He is supposedly a straight ahead back with a little speed. Lots of people are pretty high on Cooper, saying that he could become Chris Polk’s backup this year. I’m excited to see what he can do.

What Cooper needs to improve on this spring: Cooper needs to adjust to the speed of the college game. Like any incoming freshman, the speed of the game may overwhelm Cooper. Carries this spring will counter that.

Jesse Callier, 5-11, 186, Fr: Callier is the other freshman running back coming in with this class. He has a lot of speed and led the state of California in rushing last year. Some think Callier may end up as a defensive back before it’s all said and done.

What Callier needs to improve on this spring: Callier has to show that he belongs on offense. The coaches are giving him the opportunity on offense but moving him to defense is an attractive option. If Callier comes in and has a nice spring those thoughts will go away.

Position Overview: This is a solid position for the Huskies. It could turn into a great position if a good backup emerges out of the group. This is a very deep group and some attrition could occur along with some position changes. It’s nice to see the UW have a good stable of backs that could lead to a dominant Husky running game over the next few years. With the development of our offensive line, the future is bright for this position. I think we’ll start to see that this spring.

I’ll get to fullbacks in a few days. Thanks!

Andrew

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by Andrew Long | March 1, 2010 · 4:01 pm

Huskies Position Reviews – Quarterback

The quarterback position is bright for the Huskies, both in the present and future. Here is the current depth chart at the position.

JAKE LOCKER!, RS SR., 6-3, 226- You might already know how I think Jake is a superhero. When Locker announced that he was returning the win expectancy for the Dawgs automatically jumped up by at least two. In every game he plays in he will most likely be the best player on the field, based on physical skills. The only downside to Jake is that he has struggled with injuries a little bit throughout his career here.

What Jake needs to work on in the spring: Jake obviously has the raw talent; that’s been obvious since his first year on campus. But, it’s easy to forget this is only his second year in a new system. His spring will be well spent getting an even better grasp on this pro-style offense. He will also look to improve his accuracy. Jake had a 58% completion percentage last year, I think he is capable of 65% and with a better grasp of the offense and improved accuracy he will get to this number.

Keith Price, RS FR., 6-1, 184- Price has put on weight and is closer to 200 than his listed 184. Price spent last year redshirting and working with the scout team. With the departure of Ronnie Fouch, Price is in line to become the backup this fall. Coaches love his athletic ability and have tweaked his throwing motion since he’s come into school.

What Price needs to work on in the spring: Price needs to develop his passing skills. No one questions his running ability but if he’s going to fit into the Huskies offense he has to become an accurate short and mid-range passer. Price has to also be comfortable enough with the offense to be able to come in mid-game and run with the starters. Price is at risk of getting overlooked, with Jake in front of him and Montana behind him. This spring is a very important one for Keith Price.

Nick Montana, FR., 6-3, 191- I went over the kind of player Montana is our recruiting overviews but I’ll give a quick review. Montana is more of a pocket passer compared to Locker and Price. He is a very good fit in Sark’s offensive system. Montana will hopefully be redshirting this year so he can put on some weight and become familiar with the offense. With the loss of Fouch it is quite possihble that Montana could see some action.

What Montana needs to work on in the spring: Like all incoming freshman, Montana will need to get used to the speed of the college game. This will be his first chance to run the offense and it won’t be without a few bumps in the road. It’s great that Montana is here in the spring to get in repitition and to get comfortable. I hope he will come in and blow us away while challenging Price for the backup position.

Position overview: This is one of the Huskies best positions for one simple reason, number 10. He’s in the top 5 quarterbacks in the nation and this spring will only help that as he gets more coaching. The lack of depth at the position is a concern. If Jake goes down, are either of the other guys ready step in? I don’t know, but we’ll have a better understanding once practices are done for the spring. I’m looking forward to seeing what these two younger guys can do. Oh yeah, another goal for this spring: keep Jake healthy please!

I’ll be back with the running back overview in the next few days. Thanks for reading!

Andrew

Husky Football Position Overviews

(Dang it, I just covered up Matthew’s post without realizing it. Read it below, it’s much better than this!)

Over the next month I will be going over each position. This will all lead up to Husky spring practices. I will include the incoming freshman and who I think will be starters at each position. Much like the Y2010M!, we’ll make a separate category for this and feel free to add comments and questions. I imagine Condotta of the Seattle Times will be doing something similar to this but hopefully this will be interesting and informative. We’ll start with quarterback sometime this weekend! Thanks for reading!

Andrew

Jake Locker: Football Player or Superhero?

On December 5th, 2009 the Husky offense was on the field in the 4th quarter. They had dominated a quality opponent, California, in a way that they hadn’t since 2003. With Jake Locker on the field one last time the chant “one more year!” rained down from the 65,000 in attendance. Locker waved his arms in what many assumed was an attempt to quiet the crowd. The common thought is he wanted his offensive line to be able to hear the snap count. But I don’t think this flapping of his arms has been analyzed enough. On that fateful day in December maybe Jake discovered something more than an intense desire to come back to U-Dub for one more year, maybe he discovered that he could fly.

Of course Montlake Jake denied any thought of his new ability to fly, but he’s a humble kid and telling people this would put even more attention on him. Below are reasons why Jake may or may not be a Superhero.

Why Jake might just be a simple football player:

His overall record. Although I believe the Huskies will have a successful year this year, Jake’s career college record is 8-18. If he was a superhero how could he let his team lose so much? Well, every superhero has a kryptonite. Jake’s was the villain Tyrone Willingham. Ty zapped some of our stars powers right out from under him and made such an impact that it caused Locker to feel a few after effects this year.
His injuries. Since becoming a starter in 2007, Jake has missed a total of 10 games due to injury. Would a superhero really get hurt and miss that much time at the expense of his team’s record? There are two answers to that. The kryptonite, Ty, was at his work again. Putting Jake into impossible situations like being a lead blocker and taking hits every play. Even Batman couldn’t take that many hits. The other answer is Locker doesn’t want people to know his true identity. By getting injured, it keeps questions of his super-human ability away and keeps the NCAA from investigating. I wonder if the crime-rate in Seattle went up well he was injured?
Jake doesn’t wear a mask or a cape. Okay, you got me here. Most superheroes wear masks and capes, Jake doesn’t. But he does wear a helmet.

Why Jake might be a superhero:

His speed. When Locker gets in the open field, he is comparable to The Flash. This is evidenced by many runs, his 59-yard touchdown run against Arizona this year and the first time he took off up the field against Syracuse in 2007 come to mind. He might even be holding back on his speed, ask the criminals who roam the Seattle streets at night.
His strength. I only need to use one example to prove my point here. In the closing seconds against BYU in 2008 the Huskies were down by a touchdown. Jake had the ball at the three yard-line and scrambled to his left. Locker broke 3 tackles as he barreled his way into the end-zone. After scoring, Locker meant to toss the ball a few feet in the air as he jumped into his teammates arms. But Jake got caught up in the moment and forgot about his own strength. The ball went sailing 20-30 feet in the air and the pac-10 refs (boo!) called a penalty. Locker is lucky much of the blame went on the officials because if it hadn’t Jake’s superhuman strength would’ve been further noticed.
His presence. There’s a feeling of hope when Spiderman is soaring above the streets in New York City. The same is true at Husky Stadium. From the moment Jake got to Montlake, players have raved about his on and off the field presence. And when he’s on the field there’s that feeling of hope that is comparable to that of a superhero flying above the city.

The consensus is still out on whether Locker is a simple football player or a stealthy superhero. No one on the Huskies offense confessed that they saw him levitating in the 4th quarter against Cal, although I bet they did. We’ll know more come next December. But I’m looking forward to another year of evidence that number 10 should be wearing a cape and a mask.

Andrew

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by Joe Loughery | February 19, 2010 · 3:46 pm

Cheer Up!!!

No use in rehashing last nights meat grinder of a game at HecEd. Let’s focus on the positive, the good juju in Seattle sports. It’s sunny out, WHY NOT!

Jake Locker is coming back this fall. Let’s not forget that Husky fans. I’ve got a purple kool-aid keg in my garage at the ready for Labor Day weekend. BYU is toast.

Come September, this guy will be running WILD!!!

Ken Griffey Jr has arrived at Spring Training is is already holding court in the locker room. I heard he was doing P90 in the offseason, dropped seven pounds and is in great shape for a guy his age. Add to that Ichiro arriving soon, along with Mike Sweeney? Can there BE any more Sodo Mojo love in the desert? Don’t think so…

The Seahawks have two first round picks. They have holes at literally every position. Hence, they will more than likely draft two guys who will play right away. Sounds good to me, let’s just hope they go best available. I like what I am hearing from Schneider and Carroll. Sign me up, I’m buying.

Have an awesome weekend!

Joe

PS – These video highlights make me quite happy and full of joy. I hope you feel the same.

A Little More on the Possible Pac-10 Expansion

(Authors note: Ted Miller has a good post about this same topic in his blog on espn also.)

Dan did a nice job of summing up the possibility of the Pac-10 expanding to the Pac-12. I am not a big fan of this idea because I don’t think the teams that could be added don’t bring a lot to the conference and I don’t like what this could to conferencing scheduling. But I think there could be a way to make me like this move more.

I had thought that if there was an expansion then the pac-10 would split into two divisions, north and south. Competing in the south division would be USC, UCLA, Arizona, ASU, Cal, and Stanford (Cal and Stanford could be in the north). That makes for a north division of Colorado, Utah, Oregon, OSU, WSU and UW. If this were to happen the dawgs would play the 5 teams in their division every year. They would then cycle through the teams in the south, playing 3 or 4 of those teams in one season. If this were to happen the north division would miss out on recruiting. Oregon and UW, who recruit southern California actively, would miss out on playing USC and UCLA some years and thus, would miss out on the exposure those games bring.

But what if the expansion was set up differently? Lets forget about the north and south divisions and set them up differently:

Division 1: Arizona, USC, Cal, Oregon State, WSU, and Colorado.

Division 2: Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, UW, and Utah.

Each team would play their whole division, that sets up 5 games. Then all the natural rivals (UW vs. WSU, UO vs. OSU, etc.) would play every year. That leaves two games to cycle through teams in the other division. I say 2 because then the pac has a chance to load up on non-conference games and has a better opportunity to make it to bowl games (like the SEC does now). The conference would have to set up these divisions correctly; having rivals like Oregon and UW in the same division would be vital. The winners of the division would go on to play in the conference championship game with an automatic BCS bid to the Rose Bowl at stake. Like Dan said, the expansion would increase the chance of having multiple pac-10 teams in BCS bowls.

I don’t know how serious the talk of this expansion is. It might be as serious as they let on but it could also be to take the attention off of the penalties that are about to come down on USC. If it does happen I hope the commissioner realizes that north-south divisions would hurt several teams in the pac.

Andrew (Go dawgs, time for a road win!)

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by Andrew Long | February 10, 2010 · 2:07 pm

September 19, 2009

(Sorry, this is a little long!)

Actually, lets start a couple hours earlier. It was around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. School had ended for the week and I was on my usual weekend spot, Matthew and Lisa’s couch. I had finished reading an article by Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times columnist, on how this sports weekend could be a memorable one. One of the reasons why it would be is because the Yankees were in town. By this time the Mariners were out of the playoff race but that didn’t change the fact that we needed to beat the evil empire. Matthew had run up stairs for a few minutes and I was watching the end of the game. It was all but over, the Yankees were up and the best closer of all time was in to finish off the 9th inning. He got two quick outs, just like everyone thought he would. The third out was going to be Mike Sweeney. But with that beautiful swing of his (sarcasm) Sweeney somehow smacked a double. Then Ichiro came up and hit his walk off home run. I was yelling, Lisa might have even let out a little “Whooo!” and Matthew was wondering what was going on downstairs. With the Huskies playing #3 USC tomorrow, this was the only sports miracle I expected from the weekend. But, as I went to bed that night, I couldn’t keep myself from dreaming a little bit.

This was the weekend when all my Husky hopes were going to come crashing down. After a strong showing against LSU and then finally ending a 15 game losing streak by beating Idaho, I thought the Trojans would come in to Montlake and beat us down. I know these thoughts were in Matthew’s head too. In the morning we crammed into the back seat of Danny and Jessica’s car with Katie, who I knew next to nothing about except that we had sweet, matching Jake Locker jerseys. Aside from some Sean Kingston tunes, the car ride was relatively quiet. I was nervous, as I usually am on game day, and so I was quiet. The bus ride from the Kirkland park & ride to the stadium was no different. And as we walked to the stadium, the only thing I remember saying is “If we win this game I’m going to jump into the lake.”

The pregame routine went as usual- get our seats, go to the zone, go over to Hec Ed to see the hall of fame and buy some pop and then back in time for the bands pregame show. Then the game started and to be honest, it’s all a blur. USC started out hot and then we caught back up. Danny and I were texting throughout most of the game. Going into the 4th quarter I was shocked the Huskies could win the game. Matthew and me would trade looks back and forth that said, “Is this really happening?” The texts to and from Danny stopped coming because we both knew it was time to soak this all in. I imagine you know the story. Locker takes the team on a 4 and a 1/2 minute drive to set up the Eric Folk game-winning field goal. When the clock finally showed 0:00 the party was on.

After a few seconds of not knowing how exactly how to take all of this in I booked it on to the field, leaving my sister in the dust. I ended up a few yards away from the W and started jumping up and down with thousands of fans who were already there. As I was jumping and yelling I felt a few tears in my eyes. I thought, “Andrew (I guess I talk to myself in third person), are you serious? Crying at a football game?” But then I looked around. There were 40 year-old men standing next to me wiping away tears. For the next ten minutes I wandered around by myself, trying to soak up every minute possible. I stood and watched Jake hug his dad, Nick Holt do an interview where the reporter couldn’t hear him, E.J. Savannah cry, and the older season ticket holders stand and applaud from their seats. I found Dan, Jess, and Katie and many hugs were exchanged. That night I went to one of my homes (Matthew and Lisa’s) and watched it again. I’ve watched that game-winning drive countless times but I still get goosebumps when I see all of the purple rush on to the field.

I’m not writing about this to brag about my Huskies. Heck, the rest of the season was more frustrating than anything else. I’m writing about this because it’s moments like these that make us sports fans. The week before this game had been pretty crappy (to put it bluntly). I was starting to question if I made the right choice of where to go to college. I was missing friends and family. And I’d had a bad week of classes. But in those moments that I was on the field, a week that was filled with frustration was overcome by joy. Not only had this moment taken out a bad week but it had taken out a win-less season and one of the worst eras in Husky football. Finally, after sitting through those awful Tyrone Willingham years we had a reason to celebrate. I believe that loyalty pays off. With Seattle sports, loyalty can be tested but it was all paid off that day.

As I was walking around the field that day, I found Jake Locker. I patted him on the shoulder pads and told him thank you. He probably thought that I was just saying thank you for the win, but I wasn’t. I was saying thank you for making my week better. Thank you for taking out all of the frustration Husky nation had in one day. Thank you for reminding me why I love sports.