Rested Huskies ready for a fresh start

Published 11:12 pm Monday, September 22, 2008

SEATTLE — Some Washington football players went home, some watched football, at least one indulged in a massage and some Taco Bell, while others elected to “Do the Puyallup.”

And whatever the Huskies did on their weekend off, they seem to agree that this was the perfect time for a bye. The perfect time to get away briefly, to put an 0-3 start behind them and, in a sense, start the season over with this week’s game against Stanford.

“I would think maybe some of our young men are looking at this as kind of a fresh start,” Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said. “You had three very difficult ballgames early in the year, now you’re in the meat of the season and there’s a different twist to it.”

Washington’s players certainly aren’t happy with those first three games, but rather than dwell on the losses, they’re hoping to put them in the review mirror and look ahead to a nine-game finish that looks a lot more manageable than did the three-game start.

“I like to break our season into quarters, so that’s the first quarter,” said senior cornerback Mesphin Forrester. “We had a pretty bad first quarter, but we’ve just got to look forward to the rest of our season and keep fighting and getting better.”

The Huskies knew they had a tough three-game stretch to open the season, but none of them figured it would turn out as bad as it did. The Huskies were blown out twice, gave up huge numbers on defense, and offensively they have failed to live up to the promise they showed last year.

“We’ve only played three games at this point, but we thought we were going to put more points on the board this year, and that’s something that we still feel like we’re very capable of doing,” said quarterback Jake Locker. “We haven’t found ways to score as much as we’d like to and that’s something that we need to find a way to change.”

Despite that lack of production, however, Locker said he and his teammates are feeling confident and ready to get back on the field after a weekend off.

“I think everybody is feeling good and confident, and I think having the bye week was good for us to be able to refocus on what we needed to and get ready to go this week,” said Locker, one of the Huskies who attended the Puyallup Fair.

But while the Huskies are hoping to put their three losses behind them and look ahead, they’re aware of what has happened so far this season. Last week’s practices addressed many of the team’s problems, in particular the defense’s tackling woes.

“We’re always confident, but we feel like we’ve got to go out and prove something still,” said linebacker Mason Foster. “Teams have been scoring a lot of points on us, so we feel like we need to start this week off right with a big game and show what we’re capable of.”

The bye week seems to have served a purpose of not only letting players heal physically, but also emotionally. While players talked with confidence during a Monday press conference, the mood wasn’t as good immediately after losing a third straight game. That’s what made the timing of this week’s bye week so good, players said.

“Coming off of those three losses, those tough losses, a lot of the guys’ spirits were kind of down and nobody was real happy around here,” said safety Nate Williams. “I went home, and being able to be around your friends and family, I think it got our minds right, got us excited to come back and work with the team. Just to get away for a little bit, I think teams kind of need that sometimes, so you want to come back and you want to work. It just gives us a little motivation coming into the Stanford game.”

Still sore at safety: Willingham hoped his team could get healthy over the bye week, and in many cases did, but injuries are still a concern at safety. Jason Wells, who tore his ACL last season, still appears to be headed for a redshirt season, while Victor Aiyewa is still being bothered by a groin injury that has kept him off the field for almost all of this season. Wells, Aiyewa, and Darin Harris, who suffered a concussion against BYU, were all left off of depth chart for this week’s game.

Other depth chart notes: With those injuries at safety, freshman Johri Fogerson is scheduled to start once again at safety alongside Nate Williams. Williams played through some soreness against Oklahoma, but said he is 100 percent after resting over the weekend.

Tripper Johnson is listed as the backup to Williams and Fogerson.

Joshua Gage has started at strongside linebacker in Washington’s first three games, but this week, the starter is listed as either Gage or Matt Houston. Houston, a redshirt sophomore, saw significant playing time against Oklahoma.

Another position seemingly up for grabs is the wide receiver spot opposite D’Andre Goodwin. The other starting receiver is listed as Alvin Logan, a starter in all three games, or Jermaine Kearse. All three receivers could start, however, depending on the formation Washington uses to open the game. The Huskies had all three, plus Devin Aguilar, on the field to start the Oklahoma game.

No new faces: The Huskies used their bye week to, amongst other things, give more practice reps to freshmen than would be available during a game week. While Willingham said he liked what he saw from some of those players, he said he does not anticipate any new freshmen seeing the field this weekend. Through three games, the Huskies have used 10 true freshmen.

“They took some good steps, but not sufficient enough for me to say they’ve elevated to playing this week,” Willingham said.

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog