During a humiliating loss to winless Stanford at home, the Huskies had one quarterback (Isaiah Stanback) watching from the stands, recovering from foot surgery. Another (Carl Bonnell) limped off with the field with a deep thigh bruise. Yet another (Johnny DuRocher) was knocked unconscious, trying to make a tackle after throwing an interception.

On the sideline, freshman Jake Locker lobbied hard to go in. He was turned down, with a gimpy Bonnell sent back to the huddle. Locker was told his redshirt season would be preserved at all costs. His time would come. A year later, that time is now.

After four seasons without a bowl game or a winning record, Washington has entrusted its football fortunes to Locker, a hugely talented newcomer. Big and fast, he was handed the starting quarterbacking reins on the eve of spring practice, gained everyone’s confidence during those three weeks of April workouts and will be taking the center snaps when the Huskies open the season in a nationally televised game at Syracuse. “I realize there are high expectations,” he says.

For Year Three of the Tyrone Willingham regime, Washington still has gaping holes as it attempts to pull out of the Pac-10 second division and improve on a 5–7 ledger. The secondary remains a mess. Running back is dangerously thin. The kicking game has been given a complete makeover.

Locker, expected to be the latest in the Huskies’ long line of NFL-bound quarterbacks, provides hope.

“There are a lot of great things people are anticipating with Jake,” Willingham says.

A killer schedule easily could hold the Huskies back, particularly early on. After their opener on the East Coast, they host Boise State, Ohio State and USC, mixed around a road trip to UCLA, all postseason participants in 2006.

Washington could field a better team than the year before but not have the record to show for it. In Seattle, there is only one standard measure for improvement this season. “I want us to be a bowl team,” Willingham says. “We have to get there before we can get up the ladder.”

Quarterbacks
He can stand in the pocket and throw the long ball. He can tuck the ball and break the long run. The only thing Locker has struggled with is accuracy on medium-range deliveries, easily correctable as the redshirt freshman gets the footwork down. Locker’s potential is so high, Bonnell, a returning fifth-year senior who started the final five games of 2006, wasn’t given an opportunity to retain the job and will serve as the back-up. Veterans have gravitated to the young guy from Ferndale, Wash., and his natural leadership ability. “We have this kid, Jake Locker, who’s 19 and he just commands the huddle,” senior center Juan Garcia says. “I’ve got full faith in Jake Locker.”

Running Backs
As long as senior Louis Rankin stays healthy, the Huskies are in reasonable shape with their ground game. He’s a breakaway threat who scored from 77 yards out against Washington State, went 68 yards to the end zone against San Jose State and snapped off a 44-yard gainer against Cal, finishing with 666 yards rushing last season. Rankin, however, is the only tailback on the Washington roster who boasts any game experience. Sophomore J.R. Hasty, a once-touted recruit who sat out last season with academic shortcomings after redshirting the year before, is next in line, followed by five incoming freshmen. Junior Luke Kravitz and sophomore Paul Homer will share the fullback spot. They’re both veteran players, mostly as special-teamers. Still, neither one has carried the ball in a game yet.

Receivers
The only returning starter is senior Anthony Russo, coming off a 32-catch season. Underachieving Corey Williams, another senior, could take Russo’s spot after repeatedly hooking up with Locker and enjoying a breakout spring. Senior Marcel Reece is finally looking more like a wide receiver than a linebacker after paring his weight from 265 to 240. Fellow senior Cody Ellis is a viable option, as well. Anthony Boyles, considered the headliner of the recruiting class, could help right away. At tight end, juniors Michael Gottlieb and Johnie Kirton and senior Robert Lewis have shared the position. Each has started. None has stood out, though Kirton has all-league potential. Recruit Chris Izbicki could muddle the competition more.

2007 Schedule
A. 31	at Syracuse	*
S. 8	Boise State	L
S. 15	Ohio State	L
S. 22	at UCLA	L
S. 29	USC	L
O. 13	at Arizona State	L
O. 20	Oregon	L
O. 27	Arizona	L
N. 3	at Stanford	*
N. 10	at Oregon State	L
N. 17	California	L
N. 24	Washington State	*
D. 1	at Hawaii	L
Games in bold represent swing games. W or L indicates a projected win or loss.

Offensive Linemen
Locker should have the benefit of ample protection. His line is huge. Three of these guys have reclaimed starting jobs. Everyone is holding down all calories. Both tackles return in 6'8", 300-pound senior Chad Macklin and 6'6", 300-pound Ben Ossai, as does the center, 6'3", 315-pound Garcia, an honors candidate. The newcomers are the guards, and they’re hard to see over and around. Sophomore Morgan “The House” Rosborough tips the scales at 375, junior Casey Bulyca at 340, with both standing 6'6". There is considerable heft among the backups, too. Redshirt freshman Ryan Tolar pushes 340, junior Jordan White-Frisbee 320. “The modern-day defense has big tackles, so in that case it’s not a bad idea for us to have big guards,” Willingham says.

Defensive Linemen
The defensive front leans to the lean side but boasts the most experience of any Washington position area. The four guys up front have registered a collective 38 starts. The ends are senior Greyson Gunheim, who will become a four-year regular and is an honors candidate, and sophomore Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. They’re a little on the slender side, with Gunheim packing 265 pounds and his fellow end only 245. At tackle are seniors Jordan Reffett and Wilson Afoa, and neither one tips 300 pounds. Last season, these guys combined for 34 tackles for a loss, including 15 sacks. With their lack of girth, they might get pushed around some.

Linebackers
The Huskies have only one starting linebacker returning, but several guys with big-play potential are seeking jobs, a situation that has the coaching staff enthused. Senior Dan Howell, the returning first-teamer, scored on an interception return against UCLA last season. Coming off the bench, junior Chris Stevens blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown against Washington State.  E.J. Savannah and Donald Butler, pegged as the new starters, can run and could be better than the holdovers. Savannah has been held back only by repeated neck stingers, caused by his aggressive playing style.

Defensive Backs
The secondary has been the Huskies’ weakest position during the four-year downturn, and things might not improve much. Senior cornerback Roy Lewis and junior free safety Jason Wells are returning starters who will likely retain their jobs, while the other first-unit positions won’t be decided until all newcomers have reported. For that matter, Lewis previously has been victimized over and over as a deep cover guy, but there’s no one better to take his place. Freshman recruit Quinton Richardson from Seattle’s O’Dea High School and UCLA transfer Byron Davenport have been mentioned as leading candidates for the strong safety and cornerback vacancies, respectively. “The real competition in our secondary doesn’t start until the fall,” Willingham forewarns. Washington defensive backs intercepted only five passes in 2006. Only one of those interceptors has returned, reserve safety Mesphin Forrester, who pilfered two.

Specialists
It’s all new feet for the Huskies, with junior college transfer Jared Ballman thrust into both punting and kicking jobs, practically by default. Sophomore Ryan Perkins is slowly recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in the spring game that forced him to sit out the 2006 season. For the upcoming season, he remains questionable at best. Freshman Erik Folk also will contend for the kicking job. “I didn’t anticipate he’d be our kicker,” Willingham says of Ballman, a 40.8-yard punter on the junior college level.

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