Tag Archives: Steve Sarkisian

by | September 4, 2012 · 10:24 pm

Lions, Tigers, and Giraffes! Oh My!

If you haven’t heard, Steve Sarkisian brought a live Tiger to Husky football practice today.  She was in her cage and not the defensive tackle of the scout team.  This is supposedly happening so that the Huskies won’t be distracted by LSU’s tiger on Saturday night.  Personally, I think Sark was inspired by ‘We Bought A Zoo’ (I haven’t actually seen that) and wants to start his own.  Sark will get made fun of for this stunt, which is fine, but I’m all for having live animals around.  That brings me to the point of this very short, and very ridiculous blog post!  This is a top 5 list of animals I’d like to see at football practice.  I left off a tiger, although it’s very close a to a top-5 finish.

5.  Giraffe

This scores an A for awesomeness, but a D for actual possibility of happening.  Of course, bringing a giraffe to football practice is completely plausible!  If you bring two, you could just use their necks as the field goal posts.  But, the problem is there is no college with a giraffe as a mascot.  There are Fighting Pickles, Fighting Okra, and Purple Aces but no giraffes.  My goodness.

4.  Bald Eagle

The Long brother’s have a fascination with eagles.  Can you imagine how inspiring it would be to look up at a bald eagle soaring over your practice field and then calling, “Hike!”  Touchdown every time.  Plus, there are tons of teams that have eagles as their mascot.  A giraffe would kill an eagle, just saying.

3.  Hippos

Another one that scores high on the awesome list but drops down due to plausibility.  Hippo’s are very dangerous and it’d be hard to control them.  Do they have cages that big?  Where do they get cages that big?  Also, the only school with a hippo as the mascot, George Washington, has now dropped that mascot.  What are these schools thinking?  Hippos are so menacing.  They kill more people in Africa than all other animals combined.  Really, that was the only true and serious sentence in this blog post.

2.  Elephant

I hate the Alabama Crimson Tide.  But, if Sark wanted to bring an elephant wearing a red sweater to practice then I think he should be up for a lifetime contract extension.  He could spray the players off with his trunk after a hot, hard day of practice.  I’m on to something.  Aren’t you excited to see what’s number one!

1.  Lion

He’s the king of the Jungle and also the king of football practice fields.  I understand why coaches don’t bring lions in now, they are too majestic.  If you bring in a lion, then it’s all downhill from there.  Pride Rock can’t hold a lion.  They’re the only animal worthy of an Elton John song.  They are just the so awesome.  Unless you talk to me about bulldogs, camels, and flying squirrels.

I’m sorry your read this!

Andrew

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by | September 2, 2012 · 12:57 am

The Dawgs Defend And Win!

The last time we saw the Husky football team on the field, they were in the process of giving up 67 points to the Baylor Bears.  That night, the defense was incredibly bad.  So bad that I’ve washed most of it from my memory.  Tonight was the first time the Dawgs had been back in a competitive game.  They gave up 12 points.  67-12=55.  You could score 12 points in 5 football games and still be a touchdown and a PAT away from 67 points.  I’m good at math and it’s 1:20 in the morning.

A lot will be made of how ugly the offense looked for the last 3 quarters of the game.  I’ll get to that in a minute.  A lot will be made about Rocky Long’s decision-making  in this football game.  His decisions were bad but he had said that his team would do this.  He stuck to his word, and it worked out for the Huskies.  After those two things, people will talk about the defense.  That’s a complete reverse of what it should be.  We’re all so cynical.

Justin Glenn is asleep.

The Huskies gave up 12 points, and 6 of those were on an illegal play.  Yes, San Diego State did drive for some yards and you could say that if they had settled for field goals, the game would have been much more uncomfortable.  That’s true, but remember that the Aztecs, on their only touchdown drive, went for it twice on fourth down.  If they settled for a field goal there, then they don’t get their touchdown, obviously.  There’s two sides to every coin.

Now, Ryan Katz and the San Diego State offense isn’t USC or Oregon.  But, they appeared to be a formidable foe, especially at some points.  The defense appeared faster than it has in a decade.  Desmond Trufant locked down his side of the field, until his injury.  The secondary was the best I’ve seen in… I’m still think about that because we haven’t seen a dominant secondary in a long time.  There was one blown coverage tonight and the trick play the Aztecs ran.  Can you think of any other time a receiver ran completely wide open?  Can you think of a time when bubble screens didn’t work against this team?  It was refreshing.  For most of the game there was a pass rush.  Containment on Ryan Katz wasn’t very good but I won’t be overly worried about that going forward.  The defense was good and people should talk about that first and foremost.

I’m going to keep this recap pretty short because I haven’t watched the game for a second time and it’s time for bed.  I’m just listing things about the defense now anyway and that isn’t beneficial to anyone.  I’ll just skip ahead to a few bullet points and then we’ll have a more thoughts as the week goes.

  • About the offense.  They were great in the first quarter.  They could do whatever they wanted and do it well.  Then, they kept moving the ball but didn’t score.  That truly is how I see it.  In my opinion, people are overreacting about an offense that was very vanilla and was saving things for next week.  Remember last year after the opener that Sark said he was embarrassed that they didn’t have a reception over 10 yards.  Then, the next game the Dawgs came out, threw vertically, and dominated offensively.  This was the same game plan.  How many times did the Huskies throw down field tonight?  I can remember 2.  One was a bad decision by Price and one was a touchdown called back that came on a broken play.  There were a couple of 20 yard passes but nothing that I would qualify as ‘taking a shot deep’.  This was Steve Sarkisian letting his playmakers beat the opponent and saving his intricate playbook for next week.  Of course, I could be proven wrong next week but I don’t think I will.
  • The one part of the offense that does worry me is the rushing attack.  They were bottled up in the second half and didn’t do much of anything.  Mike Criste struggled in trying to fill in for an injured Ben Riva.  Jesse Callier was injured.  There were things that didn’t break right for the rushing attack tonight but they need to be better than that.  They were pushed around and should be past the point of getting beat physically like that.
  • The injuries I mentioned above are the big ones.  Riva fractured his forearm and will be out for a couple of weeks.  Callier injured his knee and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out for the year.  Knee’s just aren’t a good thing to injure.  Trufant is a little banged up but he should be fine.  Princeton Fuimaono may have suffered a concussion but I can’t confirm that.
  • I worry that the defense may struggle against power running teams like they did last year.  They are clearly fast and will do better against a spread team but the Aztecs seemed like they could have run the ball pretty effectively.  The numbers don’t support that but that’s the impression I came away with.  Also, the open field tackling against the running back was not good enough.  Give him some credit, but that can’t happen next week.
  • Keith Price was good and this was a bad day for him.  If that doesn’t make sense, just know that Price is very good.  Let’s hope that the offensive line can keep him healthy.  He took way too many hits tonight.  Slide, young fella!

Final comment:  I’ll just summarize by saying that these are the type of games we should start to expect from Steve Sarkisian openers.  Try to hold the opponent at an arm’s length away and don’t show much offensively.  Next week, I expect to see many wrinkles in the offense.  It may not be enough, but the offense will take more chances next game.  The defense won the game for the Huskies and it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to say that.  They really played well.  There were a few mistakes but they were miles ahead of last year.

Again, one of us will probably add some more thoughts about the game in the next couple days but I thought I’d throw out some of my thoughts before I get some much-needed sleep.  We’re 1-0!  11 more to go!  Go Dawgs.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | August 31, 2012 · 12:37 pm

Tomorrow’s Dreams

This post is not a preview of what I think will happen this season.  It is a detailed post of what could be possible.  This was inspired by Jeff Sullivan of Lookout Landing.

Looking back, maybe we shouldn’t have been so surprised.  We all thought this team was one year away from the big-time national scene.  We could settle for another trip to the Holiday Bowl, or, dare I say it, the Sun Bowl, this year if it meant bigger things next year.  Us fans knew that the Dawgs were young and expecting too much felt somewhat unreasonable.  Now, we see that the phrase ‘Next year’ may be uttered far too often in Seattle sports.

Before I get too far ahead of myself though, the Alamo Bowl still isn’t out of the question.  In fact, it’s a very strong possibility.  Tomorrow, the 30th of November, the Huskies will play USC for the Pac-12 championship.  If they lose, another trip to San Antonio is likely.  If they win though…  Man, if they win.

Back to the expectations at the beginning of the season.  Sometimes, I don’t think we allow ourselves to dream quite enough.  But, the early season didn’t give us many reasons to.

While the Huskies won fairly easily in their opener against the Aztecs, the game didn’t provide many answers to questions.  The defense allowed too many yards.  The running game didn’t amass as many yards as we hoped.  Keith Price just made plays, which is what Keith Price does.  But, one man can’t win every game and we saw that the next week.  LSU brought pressure off the edge and sacked Price 6 times.  The defense, while improved, just didn’t make enough stops and the SEC proved dominant, once again, as our Dawgs lost by 17.  It wasn’t a catastrophe but it wasn’t the statement we wanted.

An easy win against Portland State followed but Portland isn’t even a state.  Then came a Thursday night game against Stanford, who came in with a record of 2-1 (the loss being to USC).  People talk about turning points in a season all the time in sports.  After years of observation, I’m not a real believer in them.  Sure, sometimes it feels like all momentum shifts to one team and that team is unbeatable.  Remember the Mariners 8 game winning streak way back in August?  But, most of the time, I think turning points are an easy way for the media to write a story.  I don’t know what exactly happened on September 27th, 2012 but it changed the Huskies season.

The team had of course been blown out by Stanford the previous years and, while this game wasn’t a blow out, the Dawgs still lost.  They weren’t physically dominated like before and the defense had obviously made improvements.  The Huskies lost by seven but if there ever was a loss to feel good about, it was this one.  Right when Husky fans had made up their minds about that, reports started to surface about yelling in the team locker room.  Sark had evidently got after the team pretty good and said, “I don’t care if that’s better than we did last year!  Losses aren’t acceptable.  They won’t be tolerated anymore.”  And then, they weren’t.

Of course, this all seemed ridiculous.  It seemed like coach speak, at best.  Playing at Oregon was up next on the schedule and that was followed by USC.  Most fans, including myself had losses penciled in on the schedule.  I don’t need to recount the Oregon game play by-play.  You all have heard about it enough by now.  Keith Price scrambling for a touchdown with 36 seconds remaining and Sean Parker’s clinching interception 3 plays later.  Those were plays that will be held in Husky lore.  Eight years of torture were ever.

USC came to town next and were ranked number one.  They may not have looked as amazing as everyone thought they’d be but they still hadn’t lost a game.  This was the week the Clink went from being a temporary home to a gathering pl ace.  Yes, home field advantage was present in the three previous games but once the sell-out was announced on Tuesday of game week, there was a buzz in Seattle that we don’t hear unless the Seahawks are in the playoffs.

The whole game was a party.  Although it was a fairly close game, it felt that the Huskies had control of it the whole way through.  Winning by 14 felt easy.  There were Keith Price’s 3 touchdown passes compared to Barkley’s 2.  There was the defense causing 3 turnovers.  There was the Josh Shirley sack on the first USC offensive play in the second half that let us know that our team wasn’t letting up.  Then, there was the Shaq Thompson kickoff.  For years, it has felt like USC has been having those kind of special plays against us, with their superior athletes, now it was our turn.  On that day, we were better than USC.  USC hasn’t lost since then and looks to claim a spot in the national championship with a win tomorrow.  They’re good.  But, maybe we’ll be better again.The rest of the season felt euphoric.  UW – 45, Arizona – 28.  UW – 49, OSU – 24.

The showdown in Berkeley on a Friday night, on national TV was another highlight.  California had been talking all week long about Tosh Lupoi and how payback was going to be sweet.  Shaq Thompson stuffed the box score (1 interception, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss, and 7 tackles total) and shut up Cal.  UW- 35, Cal -17.  The defense had improved emphatically.  They weren’t your dad’s Huskies but they were good in a conference of bad defenses.  A day later, USC beat Oregon in a barn burner.

Utah caused the biggest scare, the rest of the way.  The whole game, they stuffed the run and made the Huskies one-dimensional.  At this point, Sankey and Callier both had gone over 500 yards on the season and made up a balanced offensive attack.  We found that Keith Price couldn’t do it all even if he had to.  But, the thing about memorable teams is there’s always a unit that steps up.  In this game, it was the defense.  Nate Fellner and John Timu bottled up John White, thanks in large part to Danny Shelton and Semisi Tokolahi.  Desmond Trufant showed why other quarterbacks never throw to his side of the field, as he collected 2, of his season total 5, interceptions.  The safeties proved why they were all conference.  The team held Utah to 17 points and as Keith Price took over on the Huskies 30 yard line with a 1:26 remaining, he was smiling.  He marched down the field to Utah’s 12.  Perfect passes to Kasen, Smith, and Mickens.  Heck, even Bruns had a first down catch.  That set up for Travis Coons game-winner that barely made it inside of the upright.

As the Huskies played Colorado, and proceeded to blow them out, most Dawg fans had their eyes on the Oregon-Stanford game.  For once, we were all Duck fans and for once they did what we willed them to.  Oregon beat Stanford easily and the Huskies controlled their own destiny in the Pac-12 North.

Wazzu was next and that didn’t prove to be much of a challenge.  There was much hoopla leading up to the game but it was mostly due to the Huskies being on the verge of clinching a spot in the Pac-12 championship.  While it was clear that the Cougars had improved as the year went on, their defense was put to shame by the Huskies attack and the Dawgs won 52-28.  Purple flooded the field in Pullman and now we’re here.  A day away from the most important Husky game in 11 years.

Sark’s boys have moved up to number 7 in the BCS.  But, the rankings don’t really matter.  If the Huskies win they’ll be in the Rose Bowl, if they don’t it’ll most likely be the Alamo.  I don’t know what will happen.  No one predicted that this was how the season would turn out so there’s not much point in predicting how tomorrow will go.  Yes, we beat USC once but it will be tough to repeat the Huskies most complete performance since 1994.  I hope, I pray for a win.

I guess the moral of this year is that maybe we should stop thinking about next year.  Oh, next year will be great.  While Price won’t likely win the Heisman this year, next year he comes in as a top 3 favorite.  The defense will be one year older and only graduates 3 starters.  There’s a top-15 recruiting class coming.  The future is lit up, but how dumb would it be to dream of 2013 when we’re a 60 minutes away from grabbing roses.  We don’t know if Justin Wilcox will be here next year.  We don’t know who will be injured.  So, instead of next year there’s tomorrow.  Who could ask for anything more.

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by | August 30, 2012 · 10:35 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Linebacker

We’re almost done with this series, and I might not get to the secondary portion until after the first game.  We have a few different posts planned for tomorrow and that one might not make the cut.  For now, you get to know the Washington Husky linebackers.  This is a little difficult to decipher who’s a linebacker, who’s a safety and who’s injured.  I’m going to go from the two-deeps that the Huskies released on Monday and I’ll also include a freshman you may have heard of.  As usual, the starters are first.

LB – Travis Feeney (RS Fr.)

Feeney was a top player on the scout team a year ago, as he red-shirted.  He was moved during camp to play linebacker because of the injuries.  He was a safety until he was moved and I think he’ll play a position where he’s able to cover the slot receiver and is used in passing situations more.  He is listed as the starter but expect him to split time with Shaq Thompson.  Also, this is Nate Fellner’s position and once he comes back from injury, Feeney will have a battle on his hands.

MLB – John Timu (So.)

Timu was thrown into the storm last year and played fairly well for being a true freshman.  Coaches have raved about him this off-season and his teammates must feel the same way about Timu because they elected him a team captain.  I expect Timu to have made a huge improvement over last year and be a leader on this team.  He’s the ‘quarterback’ of the defense and I would bet that he’ll lead the team in tackles, barring injuries.

LB – Princeton Fuimaono (Jr.)

Princeton challenges for the coolest name on the team and is also the most experienced linebacker.  Fuimaono had a decent sophomore season and figures to improve this time around.  He has been slowed for most of camp because of a hamstring issue but seems to be on the mend.  Princeton is a guy who will definitely need to play against the power teams.  He isn’t as quick in pass coverage as the converted safeties, but I’m betting he’s better against the run.

Rover – Shaq Thompson (Fr.)

Shaq is listed on the depth chart as a nickel back (which is a 3rd corner, essentially) but expect him to play more of an outside linebacker while lining up all over the field.  I could list Thompson in the secondary, but he’s been doing drills with linebackers recently and I think, to the less educated eye like mine and most fans, he’ll act and appear more as a linebacker.  Matthew and I have written about Thompson in a couple of different places.  I think he’s a game changer and the coaches seem to, as well.  He may not be a game changer this year but he’ll show flashes of that.  Shaq will make mistakes but he’s the type of player the Huskies haven’t had on defense in a decade.  I think you could call this defense a 3-4, a 4-3, a 3-3-5, or a 4-2-5.  I tend to think of it simply as a 4-3 but that puts in Shaq with the linebackers.  Expect 2 of the Thompson, Fuimaono, and Feeney trio to be on the field most of the time and Timu being on the field almost all of the time.

The others who will see time:  MLB Thomas Tutogi (Jr.), LB Taz Stevenson (Jr.), LB Nate Fellner (Sr.)

All of these guys will see time on the field.  Tutogi came to U-Dub last year after transferring in and could be a solid contributor.  He will definitely see time on special teams (he blocked the punt in the Apple Cup).  I think Tutogi will play more and more as the season goes on and he’s more than a capable back-up.  Taz was moved off of the safety position and is playing the same position Feeney and Fellner are playing.  He played quite a bit his freshman year but was injured a good share of his sophomore year.  Fellner was going to be a starting linebacker before suffering an injury in camp.  He may be back by the third or fourth game.  Fellner is a veteran who always seemed like he could be a good linebacker.  In a quest to get the best 11 players on the field, the coaches moved him there this spring and he seemed to transition well.  I hope he can make it back and I think the defense will be better if it does.  All of these guys suffered injuries in Fall camp.  Tutogi and Taz are healthy now but their injuries put them behind a little bit.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | August 29, 2012 · 12:58 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Defensive Line

Matthew wrote a post a couple of hours ago that is previewing the Husky team as a whole.  I’m posting over it a little bit too soon, so here’s the link because you should go read it.

We’re to the defensive side of the ball in this series and I’ll probably only keep the defensive side to three posts.  Like the offensive line post (which is a few scrolls down from this one), the player information will be less than a skill position.  Linemen don’t often have much to say and I am not able to analyze them as well.  Plus, there’s a lot of them.  I’ll try to cover everyone who will play and I’ll start with the guys who are listed as the starters.  The guys who are going to red-shirt or are buried on the depth chart probably won’t be listed.  If you have any questions about them, leave it in the comments.  Also, Hau’oli Jamora is injured and looks like he could be out all season so I’m going to leave him off on this post.  And here we go!

DE – Talia Crichton (Sr.)

Every time I’ve heard it mentioned this camp that Crichton was a senior I did a double-take.  It seems weird to me.  Talia was a guy who probably should have red-shirted his first year but the depth wasn’t so good and he was needed.  He was over-matched that year and never has been a huge factor on the defense.  Now, he gets his chance as a senior, with Jamora out, to make a real contribution.  The coaches all say that he’s had a good camp (although, what else would they say?) and has gotten better and better.  He has definitely beefed up since his younger years, playing at 265.  With that being said, he is probably the biggest question mark on the line and doesn’t have proven depth behind him.

NT – Danny Shelton (So.)

I think there are a few guys on the defense that we can expect to take a big step forward this year and Danny leads that charge.  A lot has been thrown at the big fella but he looks to be ready to handle it.  With the Dawgs switching to a quicker, smaller defensive line this year, Shelton has to be the guy that stops the run.  He needs to demand double teams so he can let the athletes at safety and linebacker to make the play.  The coaches wouldn’t have tried this defense if they didn’t think Shelton was capable so I think we have to trust their judgment.  I think by the end of the season, Shelton will be one of the three best players on the defense and he showed flashes of that last year.  This is all as a true sophomore, by the way.

DE – Andrew Hudson (RS So.)

This position could also be called defensive tackle.  If you look at the defense as a 3-4 (3 defensive linemen, 4 linebackers), then Hudson is the defensive end.  I think of it more as a 4-3, which I’ll get into more in a minute.  Hudson had to add some weight to play this position and will also be counted on to help against the run.  Just to reiterate the point, this is not a tradition defensive end position.  Hudson started 2 games last year at end and played in all of them.  He was another guy who got better as the season wore on and I think we’ll see a big improvement from him this season.  When the Huskies play against teams that want to pound the ball down our throat (think Stanford, LSU, and Utah) I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hudson move over and share time with Crichton, leaving this space for Tokolahi and Potoa’e  Before I move on, keep an eye on how young these guys are.  It’s the same theme as the offensive line, there are a whole lot of sophomores.  I think that’s when a good share of guys show the most progress (especially if they’ve red-shirted).

Rush End – Josh Shirley (RS So.)

This is a new position to the defense that many aren’t familiar with.  This position, in my mind, is still a part of the defensive line but the player may be standing up more (like a linebacker).  The focus of this position is to rush the quarterback so a guy who stands up and rushes off the edge will be playing here.  Josh Shirley is that guy.  He came to U-Dub after being kicked off the UCLA team a couple of weeks after he went to school there.  It turned out that the incident wasn’t a big deal and after a red-shirt year and a solid freshman campaign, people are expecting big things from Shirley.  This position was essentially made for him and he should be solid in it.  He’s a little undersized to be considered a conventional defensive end but his quickness is what will scare teams.  He had a great game against Baylor in the Alamo Bowl and looks to continue that going forward.  Don’t be surprised if once in a while he isn’t rushing, but will stand up and drop into coverage.  That probably won’t happen much but it will enough times to make the quarterback think of it.

5 Others To Watch:  DE – Pio Vatuvei (Fr.), N/DT – Semisi Tokolahi (RS Sr.), NT – Lawrence Lagafuaina (RS So.), DE/T – Sione Potoa’e (Jr.), RE – Connor Cree (RS Fr.)

Pio Vatuvei will probably be slowly mixed into the rotation.  He is a freshman that flipped from USC to U-Dub late last year in the recruiting game.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he had an impact like Hau’oli Jamora did his freshman year.  If he does, that would be a huge boost to this Husky defensive line.  Semisi Tokolahi was great in 2010.  He was one of the best lineman on the team and then he broke his leg in the Apple Cup and never made it all the way back last year.  I expect him to start (or play a lot) against running teams.  I’ve read from many places that he looks fully recovered from the injury.  Lawrence Lagafuaina is another big guy who could fill the middle.  He’s got a few guys in front of him on the depth chart but he’ll be used in goal line packages to stop the run.  Sione Potoa’e is a little bit of a forgotten man.  He came to U-Dub as a heralded recruit, and rightfully so.  He had to play his true freshman year and that may have hurt his development or confidence.  He still has the makings of a very good player.  He’s another guy I’d expect to see in against running teams quite a bit.  This is the most quality depth the Huskies have had at defensive tackle in quite some time.  I expect to see Connor Cree in on special teams more than anything else.  He is built like Josh Shirley and could be valuable rushing off the edge.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | August 27, 2012 · 3:29 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Offensive Line

We’re only five days away from Husky football now, which means I’m not going to go quite as in-depth on these because I want to get most of them done before the first game (and I have other things to write).  The Huskies offensive line is the biggest question mark on the offensive side of the ball but it doesn’t make me as nervous as many people feel.  Sark said last week that this was the best offensive line they’ve had since he took over and I don’t have any reason to not believe him.  I won’t have a lot to add about these guys because I don’t know a ton about offensive linemen and their technique.

I think the team will have about 8 offensive linemen who could play and then the rotation will become smaller as the season goes on, I would guess.  I’ll talk about those 8 guys and 2 of the true freshmen who are on the verge of playing.  Here we go! (I’ll try to list the starters first, as there’s only one position still in question)

LT – Micah Hatchie (RS So.)

It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking to start a season with an unproven left tackle.  With that being said, there wasn’t much competition for this job.  Hatchie won the spot fairly easily and received almost all of the first team reps all camp long.  Micah played some at right tackle last year but never started a game.  Scout rated Hatchie as the top recruit from Hawaii when he came out in 2010.  This spot will be tested early against LSU and it will be interesting to see if Hatchie holds up.

LG – Colin Tanigawa (RS So.)

Tanigawa started last year before suffering a knee injury in the Oregon State game that kept him out for the rest of the season.  He made his way back during camp and participated almost fully the last three weeks.  Tanigawa has a hold on the spot, as he played pretty well last year and he should only get better.  The only question with him is if the knee will hold up.

C – Drew Schaefer (RS Sr.)

Schaefer is the veteran of the group.  He’s played the last four years and has played pretty well.  It’s good to have a senior at such a critical position.  If Erik Kohler had been healthy all camp, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Schaefer ended up playing at left tackle this year.  Watch for that as we go forward, if the line isn’t succeeding.

RG – Erik Kohler (Jr.)

Kohler came in as a highly rated recruit and didn’t red-shirt his first year on campus.  He started most of that season and played well for being a true freshman.  Last year was a little bit up and down for him but he comes into this season as the second oldest starting lineman.  He was injured early in camp but came back last week and has since got more and more work.  He’s engaged in the only battle left in the O-line with James Atoe but I expect him to win.  If Atoe does win, look for Kohler to move around and play multiple positions.  I think the staff feels comfortable with him at every position save left tackle (although they might feel okay about that as well). Edit: Kohler has been named the starter in the depth chart.

RT – Ben Riva (RS So.)

Ben Riva makes the fourth starter out of five who came to U-Dub in the 2010 recruiting class.  There are a few more who could be in the rotation as well.  Riva is the only guy out of the five who didn’t see a lot of time last year.  That makes you wonder if the question marks regarding the offensive line aren’t overblown.  Riva comes from O’Dea and was a fairly heralded recruit.  He challenged for a spot last year but didn’t play much aside from on PAT attempts.  It is a little worrisome that the two starting tackles are unproven, especially considering the early season gauntlet, but the coaches seem to feel fairly comfortable with them.  If they didn’t, Kohler would have moved to one of these spots.

The next 5 in line:  LG (LT) – Dexter Charles (RS Fr.), RG James Atoe (RS So.), RT Mike Criste (RS So.), C – Siosifa Tufunga (RS Fr.) G Shane Brostek (FR.), Jake Eldrenkamp (FR.)

I don’t have a lot to add about these guys.  Charles, Atoe, and Criste will all probably see game action on the offensive line.  Tufunga is a large man who could play center if things go really bad.  The two true freshmen I list are both probably headed to red-shirt years but they are also the closest to playing out of all the true freshmen.  Brotesk is actually on the two-deep so he may play but hopefully he red-shirts.

That’s about all I have to add about these guys.  If you have any questions about any of these positions, post them in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | August 23, 2012 · 10:02 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Tight End

I meant to write this post about 2 days ago.  Thank you for being patient even though you didn’t know that this post was supposed to be 2 days ago.  Matthew and I have been painting our parents house and, it turns out, that’s a big job!

Today we move on to the tight end position for the Huskies.  This is one of the biggest strengths on the team with the Dawgs having 3 tight ends who could probably start on teams in the Pac-12.  One of those guys is a potential All-American.  There isn’t a lot of depth behind those 3 tight ends but we can worry about that down the road, since they’re all young right now.  Let’s get to it! (The order in which I list the players is the way I see the depth chart turning out)

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (So.)

ASJ had one of the best tight end seasons in U-Dub history and he was only a freshman.  There is no reason to believe he won’t keep getting better and stronger.  Most people know about the amazing athlete that this guy is (an all-conference tight end, a bruiser on the U-Dub basketball team) so I won’t get into it too much this year.  A lot has been made of the Huskies losing three of the their top offensive – (Polk, Kearse, and Aguilar) and that is a cause for concern.  I do think that it opens the door for Seferian-Jenkins to make an even bigger splash.  What kind of numbers can we expect?  I don’t think 800 yards receiving is out of the question.  He is probably the best pro prospect on the team and it’s time that we start treating him like that.

Michael Hartvigson (RS So.)

Hartvigson, the pride of Bothell and Dan Scansen, was a 4-star commit coming out of high school but wasn’t as high-profile as ASJ.  Michael is a quality player who will make an impact this year.  I expect to see quite a few double tight-end sets just because Sark will want to get his best players on the field.  Hartvigson is a solid blocker but we haven’t seen much of his receiving ability.  That’s not to say he doesn’t have any, he does, it just hasn’t been utilized as much as his blocking.  I fear that Hartvigson won’t escape ASJ’s shadow for the next few years and we may not know how good of a player he is.  With that being said, Sark will find a way to use his best players so, if Hartvigson is a top player, he’ll be used.

Evan Hudson (RS So.)

Hudson, also the pride of Bothell and Dan Scansen, decided to follow his buddy (Hartvigson) and walked on to the U-Dub football team.  Hudson could have had accepted a scholarship at a smaller school but he wanted to be a Dawg and has since been awarded a scholarship.  Because of the two studs in front of him, we don’t see much of Hudson on the field.  If there was an injury in front of him though, I would feel comfortable with Hudson in the game.  I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports from practice and in his limited game time.  I honestly have no idea how good Hudson is, but, if I had to guess, I think Hudson is a quality Pac-12 player.

Josh Perkins (RS Fr.)

Perkins had a fantastic spring and quite a few people had him pegged as an emerging number 3 receiver for the Huskies (I’m looking at you, Matthew Long).  It seemed like a good bet.  Perkins is a big guy, which is the type of receiver it seems that Sark likes.  Or is it really?  I guess that’s a debate for another blog post.  Anyway, Perkins was moved to the H-back position which is kind of a cross between a fullback, tight-end and wide receiver.  That paints a really clear picture, doesn’t it?  I think Josh may see the field this year, as a pass catcher or lining up in the way Marcel Reece does for the Oakland Raiders.  That’s just a guess on my part.  Perkins was kicked off the team for about 2 days for an undisclosed incident but then was reinstated.  I don’t know if that puts him in the doghouse or if it will decrease his playing time.  Time will tell.  Perkins is a guy who could definitely fill a role on this team.

As you can see, the tight end position is in fairly decent shape.  The depth is solid and young and there’s a whole lot of star power at the top.  I didn’t include a couple of walk-ons but I don’t think that they’ll play a huge role in the present or future.  I hope they prove me wrong, because I don’t really know much!

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | August 18, 2012 · 1:14 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Wide Receiver

Camp is almost half over and the first game is 2 weeks away.  It seems as if training camp has brought a new injury with it everyday.  When you list everything out (which I will do after I run through the wide receivers) it doesn’t look as bad as what the perception is.

I’ve written about quarterbacks, running backs, and fullbacks so far in this series and I move on to receiver today.  The position is going through what seems to be a little bit of a face lift this year, with Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar graduating.  Those two had very good careers at U-Dub, although they both came with their fair share of frustrations.  Most fans agree that, while the 2012 group is young, they have a good amount of talent and shouldn’t see a huge drop off in production.  On to the names!  I’ll include most players (I will probably leave off some walk-ons who I don’t see as contributors this year).  The order I list them is in the order I perceive as the current depth chart.

Kasen Williams (SO.)

I was just reading Ted Miller’s blog (which is fantastic) and he was asked to compare Kasen Williams and Marquess Wilson.  He said that it wasn’t a fair comparison in comparing someone who is an All-American and someone who is mostly based on potential at this point.  This is exactly right.  Kasen Williams has as much potential as any receiver in the Pac-12 and maybe the country.  No, really he does.  He flashed it at times last year but he has hardly proven himself.  He’s not in the Pac-12 elite but I would be surprised if he wasn’t in that group by the end of the season.  Every Husky fan (and a few WSU fans) have the picture of Kasen leaping over a defensive back in the Apple Cup cemented into their memory bank and these are the type of plays that we hope to see all year.  Last year, Kasen caught 36 passes for 427 yards.  I expect him to double those yards.  By all accounts, Williams should be a star at some point, the question is if that will happen this year.  I sure hope so.

James Johnson (SR.) 

James Johnson has had an interesting career as a Husky.  He scored the first touchdown of the Sark era, as a true freshman.  Johnson then went on to have a great freshman year (39 catches for 422 yards), particularly in the first half.  He was then injured before his sophomore year and somehow got lost in the mix at the position.  He never really saw the field, aside from a few plays here and there.  Last year brought something of a comeback for Johnson (28 receptions for 366 yards).  He would have a few great games (Nebraska comes to mind) and then disappear for a game it seemed.  He did miss a few games due to injury.  This year is off to an ominous start, as he’s suffered a dislocated wrist and a few torn ligaments.  Sarkisian said that he’ll be out 4-6 weeks.  This is a blow to the Dawgs for the first few games as most people had James penciled in as the number 2 receiver.

Cody Bruns (RS SR.)

Speaking of interesting careers, I’m not sure any player could top Bruns in that category.  Cody Bruns played in his first game half way through his freshman year because Ty wanted to run some trick plays.  Cody would get on the field for about 3 plays a game and it wasn’t usually to catch passes.  Bruns was a bit lost in the depth his sophomore year and then played a little more his junior year.  He’s been labeled as a player who could do everything from holding on field goals, to passing the ball, to punt coverage, to actually receiving.  Last year, he was dealt an emotional blow as his father passed away.  The coaches and Bruns decided that a redshirt year would be best for all involved.  Now Bruns enters his last year and figures to be an integral part in the receiving corps.  He may be used in a more conventional way than usual but don’t be surprised to see him be on the field in many different capacities.  He has surprising speed and is said to be a sharp route runner.

Kevin Smith (JR.)

It’s easy to forget that Kevin Smith didn’t play all 4 years of high school football.  He started later but his athletic ability made up for however raw he was.  Now he’s an upper class-man who could be a pretty big contributor (208 yards receiving last year).  Smith is still recovering from an ACL injury and could be limited for the first month of the season.  If he does come back to 100% healthy, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s one of the Huskies 4 best receivers.  You may also see him back returning kicks and showing off his speed.

Jaydon Mickens (FR.)

Mickens was rated as a four-star recruit coming out of California and has been turning heads in the first 2 weeks of camp.  He has even been running with the starters in the last couple of days due to injuries ahead of him and his good play.  Mickens is the smallest of the receivers (5-10, 170) but has a ton of speed.  He’s almost assured to play this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start in 2 weeks.

Kendyl Taylor (FR.)

Much of what I said about Mickens rings true for Taylor.  He was a highly rated recruit coming out of Arizona who has been making plenty of plays thus far in camp.  He’s also 5-10 but a little bulkier than Mickens.  His high school mascot was a Husky so that’s cool, I guess.  Taylor will see plenty of playing time, especially as Johnson and Smith work their way back as the season progresses.  Sure, these 2 freshmen probably have their best days a few years down the road but we don’t have the luxury to wait for that since the Dawgs need them now.  I’m guessing they’ll come through with only a few hiccups along the way.

A few more guys and notes after the jump. Continue reading →

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