Our Pac-10 interviews continue with Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Bob has been writing for the Husky Football Blog for the Times, as he covers Seattle’s finest, the Washington Huskies. Thanks to Bob for participating in this interview.
1. Jake Locker performed pretty well last year, especially for a freshman quarterback, but he had a 47.3% completion percentage. Will his accuracy and performance improve or will he suffer a “sophomore slump.”
I think he will improve as he is a very hard worker who spent the off-season making a few adjustments to better that number, though he says he thinks the biggest thing that will increase it is simply having a year of experience under his belt. He feels being more comfortable with the offense will decrease the hesitating that he felt led to a number of his errant throws. One thing out of Locker’s control that could impact things quite a bit, however, is that UW will be breaking in an almost entirely new WR corps. People here think the new WRs are faster and ultimately more talented than the departing guys. But they will need some seasoning, and it figures that the passing game will look a little shaky at times until those players get comfortable with playing.
2. Last year, running back Louis Rankin was one of the nation’s most underrated players. Who will take over at tailback?
The leader right now is sophomore Brandon Johnson, who was Rankin’s backup last year and topped the 100-yard mark late in the season against Cal. But Johnson is more of a power back than Rankin, not as likely to break the long runs so the Huskies will give long looks to a number of other backs, such as redshirt freshman Willie Griffin, to see they will add a different dimension than Johnson. So this could easily end up being a committee type of thing.
3. A young quarterback like Locker needs good wide receivers. How good are Washington’s?
As mentioned above, UW coaches think they could be very good. But they are also very young this year. The leading returning WR is sophomore D’Andre Goodwin, who had six catches last season. Goodwin had a good spring and appears to be the leader of this group entering the fall. There are a number of intriguing young players, such as freshman Anthony Boyles, one of the jewels of the class of 2007 who missed last season while sorting out academic issues, and two stars of the class of 2008, Cody Bruns and Jermaine Kearse. I think down the road, this will be a very good group. But almost all college football players take some time to reach their potential, and it figures most of these guys will need some time as well.
4. Focusing again on the maturation of Locker, how good is the offensive line. Will Locker get enough protection to be a consistent passer?
The hope is that the O-line could be the strength of the entire team, providing Locker that protection and making it easier for the young RBs and WRs to adjust. The Huskies return all but one regular OL from last year, starting right tackle Chad Macklin. However, UW suffered a big blow in the spring when C Juan Garcia suffered a Lisfranc injury. He could be back in late September but nothing is certain. And that unfortunately means he’s likely to miss UW’s brutal opening three-game gauntlet that figures to indicate a lot about where this season is headed. No way UW will be as good without Garcia as it would have been with him. The question is how steep will be the drop off. But this could still be a really good line. Sophomore guard Ryan Tolar is one of the top rising players on the team and junior LT Ben Ossai could be in line for a breakout season.
5. Washington has used the 3-4 occasionally; will this become more common with their weak and inexperienced defensive line?
UW actually did very little of the 3-4 under Kent Baer, but new D-coordinator Ed Donatell seems more likely to use it, having learned a lot about it during his stop last year with the Jets. And as you mentioned, it makes sense as UW is strong at LB (assuming E.J. Savannah returns from injury) while being very young on the D-line. This is something UW will try hard to keep under wraps this August, so we may not know for sure how much 3-4 it will use until the season starts. But it figures the Huskies will use it some this season.
6. With the return of their three linebackers, EJ Savannah, Donald Butler, and Mason Foster, is this the best unit in the Pac Ten?
No. this could be a good unit (don’t forget senior Trenton Tuiasosopo, who will share the middle with Butler) but USC and Cal each have much more proven LB units so you have to put them ahead of the Huskies. I think ASU’s are probably better, as well, and Stanford could also be pretty good here.
7. The secondary was the Achilles heal last season. Will that trend continue in 2008?
I’ll start by saying the defensive problems last year were total team issues — I wouldn’t lay the worst defense, in terms of yards allowed, anyway, solely on the secondary. That said, the Huskies made a number of moves to fix their secondary issues in the spring, most notably, moving starting safety Mesphin Forrester to corner, giving them two bigger cornerbacks than last year (with freshman Quinton Richardson also moved there) and opening the door for a pair of pretty talented young safeties in Nate Williams and Victor Aiyewa, each sophomores. Like some other units, it could take a while for the new guys to find their way. But on paper, this area looks like it has a chance to be better this season, maybe a lot better.
8. How hot is Tyrone Willingham’s seat right now?
About as hot as Arizona in July. He has to win this year or he will be gone. The only question is how much does he have to win — – is six games and any bowl enough, or does he need 7-8 and a higher-tier bowl game? That’s really the more relevant question right now, though it doesn’t really have an answer, either. No doubt, however, Willingham will be one of the most scrutinized coaches of this college football season.
9. Lastly, please look into your crystal ball. How will the Huskies do this year?
I picked them seventh in the Pac-10 pre-season media poll, a prediction I’ll stick with here. I think UW has a chance to be better, but a lot of things have to go right — the youth at RB, WR and DL has to mature quickly, Locker has to stay healthy — and the schedule is a real bear, judged by some as the toughest in the nation. Right now, just hard to see where UW finds more wins than losses.