SEATTLE – This is what comes to a guy who works as hard in the middle of the week as he does on game day.
This is what happens when he decides the bench is no place to watch a football game when he’s got the skills to catch passes and score touchdowns.
This – a 189-yard receiving day and his first career collegiate touchdown – is what University of Washington coaches believed Craig Chambers would contribute on Saturdays if he showed a lot more dedication Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Chambers, in the coaches’ doghouse early this season because of soft work habits, started his third straight game Saturday and made it his best.
The redshirt freshman from Jackson High School in Mill Creek caught eight passes for 189 yards and a 77-yard touchdown, the best yardage day for a UW receiver this season. His touchdown tied for the 14th longest pass play in Washington history.
“I would rather the coaches be saying, ‘Craig, we need you to step up for this game,’” Chambers said, “rather than them saying, ‘Craig, when are you going to start practicing so we can get you on the field?’
“I decided one day to turn it on in practice and do everything they told me, so they wouldn’t have an excuse not to put me on the field,” Chambers said. “I just told myself that I had to go hard every day.”
With a 6-foot-3, 205-pound body that can handle the body blows of cornerbacks, speed to get past them and hands that can latch onto the football, hard work was all Chambers needed to show.
Now he’s making his point in games.
Chambers caught four passes for 106 yards three weeks ago at Oregon in his first start. Last week against Arizona, he had three catches for just 13 yards, but Saturday he burned California’s aggressive defenders over and over.
His biggest play was the 77-yarder, when quarterback Casey Paus found him open on the right sideline and Chambers outran everyone to the end zone, slipping the grasp of the only defender who had a chance to trip him.
“My cornerback blitzed and that put the safety on me,” Chambers said. “In an open field like that, you have to get open. Casey threw a beautiful ball and I just turned for the end zone and it worked out perfect.”
Paus believes there will be a lot more touchdown catches.
“Craig is a playmaker. I thought that from the very beginning,” Paus said. “I saw it all summer. He just needed a boost of confidence. Keep him healthy and there will be a lot of good things to come.”
Chambers also proved his toughness Saturday when he came back from a late hit to his ribs (which wasn’t ruled a penalty) in the first half by Cal safety Ryan Gutierrez.
“It hurt, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t bounce back from,” Chambers said.
Bouncing back, that’s been the story of his season. Chambers watched as other players climbed the depth chart and he didn’t, and coaches made it clear he had to work harder in practice.
“I was sitting here wondering why they wouldn’t give me a chance,” Chambers said. “I just had to turn around my work ethic big-time.”
Nobody seemed happier for him Saturday than UW head coach Keith Gilbertson, who said Chambers should be an example for other players.
“This guy decided he was tired of sitting on the side and he did something about it,” Gilbertson said. “He went out in practice and worked harder and got faster and more explosive. He went from the scout team to making great catches today for a big number. He proved that when you work, you can improve.
“It’s a neat story that a guy can struggle like he did, and he kept working and is doing something significant. It’s a great lesson for a lot of football players.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
