Huskies need to go from pups to DAWGS fast

Published 11:49 pm Thursday, August 30, 2007

Should Washington receive the opening kickoff tonight, there’s a good chance that freshman Brandon Johnson will start his team’s season with the ball in his hands.

And to have the freshman tailback returning the opening kick would be a fitting beginning for a Huskies team so reliant on inexperienced players. Any time a struggling program rebuilds, as Washington is trying to do, there are be periods where inexperience players play big roles. The key to Washington’s success both tonight and down the road could be how quickly those players adjust.

The most obvious and probably most important example is quarterback Jake Locker, who makes his much anticipated college debut tonight after redshirting last season.

“It’s fun, it’s crazy, there’s a lot of emotions that are mixed up in it,” Locker said of the buildup for his first game. “I’m just really looking forward to getting out on the field with our other 10 guys. Obviously there are nerves. If you don’t have some kind of nerves, I don’t think it means anything to you. I don’t think I’m nervous, just more excited and eager to get out and play.”

Locker will hardly be alone when it comes to a lack of college experience. Starting left guard Ryan Tolar redshirted last year as a freshman, as did left tackle Cody Habben, who will either start or play significant minutes behind Ben Ossai. Same goes for receiver D’Andre Goodwin, who is listed as a starter. Three freshmen tailbacks, Johnson, Curtis Shaw and Willie Griffin, could all see playing time as well.

And that’s just the offense. On defense, freshman Vonzell McDowell is expected to start at cornerback, becoming the first Husky to do so since 2002. At least he is the only starter on defense without college game experience. Several key backups, however, could see their first game action tonight, including linemen De’Shon Matthews, Derek Kosub, and Cameron Elisara, as well as safeties Nate Williams and Jay Angotti, and cornerback Matt Mosley. Williams is a freshman, while the others redshirted as freshmen.

After Locker, McDowell figures to be under the biggest microscope. As a cornerback, he will have no teammates next to him to hide any mistakes he might make.

Asked if there are two more difficult positions for freshmen to pick up than cornerback and quarterback, Washington coach Tyrone Willingham answered, “Probably not.”

“You want to be very careful about those two positions because the nature of the visibility of those two positions makes it so everybody has an opportunity to see their mistakes,” he said. “Their laundry is kind of out in the public all the time, so you have to be careful about those positions. They’re very challenging positions both mentally and physically. It’ a real task for two guys to step up and perform at those two places.”

Difficult Dome: Willingham’s last trip to the Carrier Dome is one he’d rather forget. Willingham’s 2003 Notre Dame team lost 38-12 to Syracuse, something he isn’t too eager to discuss.

“Well I guess I’ve employed that much needed skill that sometimes you must have in football, I have short term memory,” he said, before conceding. “You don’t ever forget. You always remember certain things about certain ballgames. When you’re unsuccessful I usually remember more parts of those than others.”

Willingham added that the Carrier Dome is a difficult place to play, an opinion supported by Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson. Erickson coached twice in the dome while at Miami.

“It’s really interesting,” he said. “I’ve been in there a couple of times with Miami. We had to play our rear ends off both times. It’s a hard place to play, it’s really noisy … it’s extremely hot in there, those fans are interesting. It will be a difficult place to play for Washington.”