SEATTLE — It turns out that Washington’s second-half mistakes might be the result of trying not to make mistakes.
That’s offensive coordinator Tim Lappano’s theory, anyway.
“I think sometimes in the third quarter—believe me, we’ve looked at it 1,000 times—I think we play not to lose, instead of play to win,” Lappano said.
Lappano pointed to third-quarter penalties and dropped passes as things that might be caused by players being tentative.
“Why do we have holding call; why do we drop balls; why do we have false starts; why do we put ourselves in the position that we do?” he said. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m thinking, are we playing not to lose, or are we playing really to win and just letting it go? Are we being almost too cautious? When you play like that sometimes, that’s when the bad things happen, and that’s what’s happening.”
Lappano thinks the Huskies can change that attitude and turn things around. He said that once the Huskies start playing to win for four quarters, they’ll be in good shape.
“They need to believe in themselves and what we’re doing and they’ll be fine,” he said. “They can’t second guess themselves or anything like that. We need to go out and play on our toes. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, is what I’m trying to say. Go out there in the second half, and play to win. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. We’re making too many mistakes, but I think sometimes we make them because we’re afraid we’re going to make them instead of just going out there, … and playing on your toes. If we can have that mentality, play to win, don’t play not to lose, we’ll be fine.”
More playing time for “Flea” and White-Frisbee: With Quintin Daniels out with a knee injury, D’Andre Goodwin, who coaches and teammates call “Flea” is expected to see more playing time. Goodwin is said to be the fastest player on the Washington roster.
Jordan White-Frisbee, who started last week at right guard over Casey Bulyca for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, is also going to play more, Lappano said. White-Frisbee had two good weeks of practice during Washington’s bye to get his coaches’ attention.
“I like him a lot,” Lappano said. “He’s got a really good chance to be a good player. We need him to get better every week. We’re really satisfied right now with the way he’s coming on and getting better and better. He brings a lot to the table.”
Tailback rotation: Lappano said he expects J.R. Hasty and Brandon Johnson to both see the field again like they did against Arizona State, but while Hasty is listed as the backup to Louis Rankin, Lappano’s comments seemed to indicate that Johnson would get more carries.
“I thought J.R. Hasty ran OK,” Lappano said. “Brandon Johnson I thought showed up pretty good. I liked what he did, He ran hard … He’s not really big, but he’s physical; he hits it. I think you’ll see some more of him in there. And J.R., I’m not saying J.R. won’t play a little bit, too. He’ll probably get a couple of touches, too.”
Gold jerseys: Players earning gold jerseys for the week are defensive tackle Wilson Afoa, defensive end Greyson Gunheim, tailback Louis Rankin, and punter Jared Ballman.
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
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