SEATTLE – The question had reached almost scandalous proportions. On a team in need of some players capable of big plays, why wasn’t wide receiver Craig Chambers playing?
The sophomore from Jackson High School led the Huskies in receiving yards last year and appeared poised to take over as Washington’s go-to guy. Instead, Chambers failed to even make the two-deep depth chart out of fall camp, and played just the final series in the season-opening loss to Air Force.
Fans inundated message boards. Students wore ”Free Chambers!” T-shirts Saturday. Chambers’ mother even called a Seattle radio station earlier in the week to discuss her son’s playing time.
So, why weren’t coaches playing him?
”It’s hard to say,” Chambers said. ”A lot of people think I wasn’t working hard or something like that. It was the same thing with the coaching staff last year. I have deceptive speed. This week it seemed they gave me the ball more and I did more with it (in practice). … It’s hard to say what put me on the field this week. Whatever it was, I’m going to try to do it again next week.”
Chambers did see more playing time Saturday, and produced. He caught three passes for 65 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half that kept Washington in the game.
Prior to Saturday, coaches said Chambers wasn’t playing because he simply wasn’t performing better than other receivers. Coach Tyrone Willingham never said it had to do with Chambers’ practice habits, which last year led to Chambers not playing until late in the season.
Saturday, though, he clearly made an impression on coaches.
”When Craig got an opportunity to make plays when he was called on, he made them,” Willingham said. ”And that’s exciting. We want that from Craig and we expect it from him.”
”He’s a talent,” offensive coordinator Tim Lappano added. ”He’s a good football player. He’s physical at times. He’s got good size to go up and get the ball.”
Though Chambers didn’t come out and say it, he seemed to believe that coaches were not happy with the way he was practicing. He knows Willingham is a big believer in those who practice well, play well. But Chambers said he didn’t believe he was practicing poorly enough that he shouldn’t have been playing. Does he think he did enough Saturday to prove he should be in the receiver rotation?
”It’s hard to say,” Chambers said. ”I could come out and not play next week if I have a horrible practice. But I think I’ll play significantly next week, if not start.”
No Marshawn, no problem: Cal star running back Marshawn Lynch left the game early in the third quarter with a fractured left pinky suffered when he hit his hand on a Husky player’s helmet. The sophomore finished with 46 yards on five carries. It didn’t matter, though. Marcus O’Keith came off the bench to run for 103 yards on six carries and Justin Forsett rushed 11 times for 77 yards. Lynch said he does expect to play next week when Cal plays host to Illinois.
James goes down again: Junior running back Kenny James made his return to the team Saturday and promptly bruised the same shoulder that had caused him to miss significant time since the first practice of the season. James finished with six yards on two carries and caught two passes. Willingham wasn’t sure how significant the injury was.
Defensive tackle Erick Lobos also left the game after injuring his foot.
Stanback still solid: Though he struggled and seemed unsure of himself in the second quarter, coaches are still pleased with what they’ve seen from quarterback Isaiah Stanback. The junior set career highs with 301 passing yards and had two touchdown passes, and also ran for 23 yards.
”He was OK,” Lappano said. ”I don’t think it’s fair to say he took a huge step back, I don’t think he did. We put him in a tough situation, a two-minute drill with about seven minutes left. The game was fairly out of hand then. He made some good throws. When you’re throwing the ball vertically down the field like we did today, those throws are a little harder to make. You’re not going to make every one of them. Hopefully he makes more than he misses.”
Tough day for Rankin: One week after breaking out for 112 yards, running back Louis Rankin struggled, as did the rest of the running game. The absence of left tackle Joe Toledo (sprained ankle) clearly hurt, as the usually strong unit was continually beat. Rankin finished with 38 yards on 13 carries.
Career day for Shackelford: Receiver Sonny Shackelford had the best day of his Husky career, catching six passes for 124 yards.
And the captains are: Senior center Brad Vanneman, junior safety Dashon Goldson, senior linebacker Joe Lobendahn and senior running back James Sims Jr. were the game captains. Washington does not have regular captains.
Back in town: Saturday’s game was a homecoming for California freshman Anthony Felder, who was raised in Shoreline and attended Seattle’s O’Dea High School. Felder played on special teams throughout the game, and then got on the field as a linebacker late in the third quarter and for the rest of the game.
”It was fun,” he said. ”It’s nice to come back. I hadn’t been home in awhile, so I was excited to play here.”
Felder got eight tickets for his family, ”but then there were (friends) who bought their own. So there were probably around 20 people here to see me.”
Getting the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Felder out of Seattle was a huge recruiting coup for the Golden Bears.
”He’s very talented,” said California coach Jeff Tedford. ”He can run, he’s a great tackler and he’s smart. He’s in the rotation to be playing (with the defense), as well as on special teams.”
Upon further review: California needed college football’s new instant replay format to score its second touchdown early in the second quarter.
Quarterback Joe Ayoob lofted a pass toward the left sideline that wide receiver Robert Jordan snagged near the boundary, right at the pylon marking the front of the end zone. The nearest official hesitated for a few seconds, and then waved his arms to indicate that Jordan had caught the ball out of bounds.
An appeal was made, and referee Jack Folliard went to the sidelines to confer with officials in the press box. Moments later, Folliard announced that replays confirmed that Jordan had possession in-bounds and got one foot down before clicking the pylon with his second step. The result, a California touchdown.
”That’s why I’m a fan of (instant replay),” Tedford said with a grin. ”I’m in favor of it and I voted for it because of things like that.”
Tedford said the official explained that ”he didn’t see (Jordan’s) other foot in … but I think (the official) just missed it.”
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